The Taoiseach and the British Prime Minister were making strenuous attempts late last night to get the republican movement to accept the principle that decommissioning is a requirement of the Belfast Agreement.
That is the key point in a joint government plan to break the decommissioning impasse and enable the Northern executive to be formed. The plan was put to the Ulster Unionist Party and Sinn Fein yesterday by Mr Ahern and Mr Tony Blair.
Irish Government sources said late last night that it would be "premature" to speculate that a deal could be done by tomorrow's deadline of Good Friday.
The Taoiseach was "hopeful, rather than confident", one source said, that the "new ideas" put to the Northern parties could be fine-tuned into an agreement.
The chances of a breakthrough in the talks were heightened last night when Mr Blair and Mr Ahern returned to Hillsborough Castle to resume what they believed could be a marathon session of talks. They walked together into Hillsborough Castle at 7.50 p.m.
When the main parties met the two leaders at 9 a.m. yesterday, what were described as "new ideas", drawn up overnight by officials, were presented to the main players, Mr David Trimble and Mr Gerry Adams. The First Minister and the Sinn Fein leader said they would need to consult their constituencies.
Mr Ahern and Mr Blair returned to Dublin and London respectively at lunchtime to take Question Time in the Dail and the House of Commons.
The plan to break the deadlock, presented by Mr Ahern and Mr Blair, obliges every pro-agreement party to accept the principle that decommissioning is part of the Belfast Agreement. This would be followed by agreement to set up the Northern executive on the first anniversary of the agreement tomorrow.
The devolution of powers to the new executive would not happen until the House of Commons returns after its Easter recess on April 13th.
The first hint of the nature of the formula being devised to reach a breakthrough was given by Mr Ahern on his departure for Dublin at lunchtime. "We are probably down to one point. The difference is in the timing and the dates. I think the principles are established."
On the resumption of the talks last night, Government sources said the first hurdle to be overcome was the securing of agreement on the principle that the IRA would state that decommissioning was a requirement of the Belfast Agreement. Any chance of agreement would flow from that.
The questions of times and dates for the setting up of the executive and the first instalment of verifiable decommissioning were seen by Government sources as secondary to that.
From the Government's perspective, the plan has the advantage of being strictly within the terms of the agreement which requires full decommissioning by May 22nd, 2000. However, the IRA, as distinct from Sinn Fein, has never stated that it has accepted that commitment and on three occasions has issued statements that it would never decommission.
The Government has always been uncomfortable with Mr Trimble's demand for decommissioning prior to the establishment of the executive since there is no such precondition written into the agreement. It has, however, accepted the reality of Mr Trimble's political position that actual decommissioning is necessary to sustain his leadership.
The assessment within Government circles is that a voluntary handing-over of IRA arms in a defined time after the establishment of what would be, in effect, a shadow executive could be sold by Mr Trimble to his supporters. It would, in the Government's view, remove the IRA sensitivity about surrender.
