THE Stormont estate, five miles from Belfast's city centre, boasts an imposing parliament building and fine castle, but in contrast Castle Buildings, the venue for the proximity talks beginning today, is a modern, ugly, dour structure.
It's a purely functional building - with several equally sad Portakabin type offices at its rear - mainly housing the North's Social Security Agency. Fortunately, it's set in a hollow of the estate away from public view, although Stormont Castle is visible from the building.
It's here this morning that the Northern Secretary, Sir Patrick Mayhew, and the Tanaiste, Mr Spring, are attempting to kick start a preparatory talks process ultimately designed, in the words of Sir Patrick, to lead "to a comprehensive political settlement in relation to Northern Ireland".
They will be initiating these proximity talks in the absence of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), the DUP and the independent unionist, Mr Robert McCartney, who all say that Mr Spring has no business being at Stormont.
While the building has a forbidding exterior, the facilities and the offices within are said to be first class. Mr Spring has a suite of offices, described as "plushy", for his ministerial colleagues and Government officials, on the floor just under the Northern Secretary's.
A nameplate marked "Tanaiste" is on his door. On the same floor, offices have also been set aside for the SDLP, Sinn Fein, Democratic Left, the Workers' Party and Mr McCartney.
The setting aside of an office for Mr McCartney is academic, however, as, like the two main unionist parties, he won't be at Castle Buildings. Mr McCartney, a lawyer, said he wanted to make it clear "beyond peradventure" that he had no difficulty meeting members of the Irish Government in Dublin.
But, again in keeping with the views expressed by the DUP leader, the Rev Ian Paisley, and the UUP leader, Mr David Trimble, he felt Mr Spring had no business being at Stormont for an element of the peace process which should be purely internal to Northern Ireland.
The ground floor of the building is set aside for the UUP DUP, the Alliance Party, and the fringe loyalist parties, the Ulster Democratic Party (UDP) and the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP). With the absence of the UUP and the DUP, the loyalist parties and Alliance will not be short of office space.
In recent days, the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) has been sending out invitations to the various parties to engage in bilateral and multilateral discussions. An NIO spokesman admitted that up to late yesterday evening no completed programme was available for what happens after Sir Patrick and Mr Spring meet this morning.
Parties such as the SDLP, Alliance, PUP and UDP have stated they will attend today's talks. The PUP and UDP are due to arrive at their offices around 10 a.m., with the SDLP team arriving for 12.30 p.m.
The SDLP will have a team of about 17 members, led by the party leader, Mr John Hume. The UDP and PUP are likely to have teams of about six members and Alliance, led by the party leader, Dr John Alderdice, is expected to, bring a similar number.
Sinn Fein has not been invited and in any event could only speak to British and Irish government officials because of the collapse of the IRA ceasefire.
There is a possibility of a Sinn Fein protest at Stormont this morning. Equally, Sinn Fein members could seek admission to, Castle Buildings, where they have, an office, going back to the time when they were engaged in a long series of bilateral discussions with the North's Political Minister, Mr Michael Ancram.
Mr Spring and Sir Patrick will be prepared to meet the parties; initially in bilateral, and later multilateral, session. The programme of meetings is "fluid" at this stage, according to the NIO.
While "constitutional" unionists will be absent from Stormont, they will be holding a series of meetings with the British government and some of the other parties in the coming days. At the end of this initial process on March 13th no government or political party will be in doubt about the views of the other participants.
The two governments hope that an interactive dynamic will be established in the coming days to, ensure progress is made before, the March 13th deadline, when, in the event of no agreement, the British government will decide, the method of election leading to, all party negotiations on June, 10th.
