British prime minister Tony Blair was pressed by Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams yesterday to force the DUP's hand on entry into a power-sharing government with his party by being prepared to lift the suspension of the Northern Ireland Assembly.
At a separate meeting, a DUP delegation asked Mr Blair to consider allowing a future devolved government in Northern Ireland to use tax incentives to boost the North's economy.
The Sinn Féin delegation met Mr Blair as property in Manchester was being searched by the Assets Recovery Agency in an investigation into alleged IRA money-laundering.
The party downplayed the raids and the West Belfast MP and his colleague Martin McGuinness were in a positive mood in light of the IRA's declaration in July that its armed campaign had ceased and its disarmament programme was complete.
Mr Adams insisted that the main focus of the meetings with Mr Blair and Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain was the need to re-establish the political institutions quickly. He said: "Key to making progress is the British government honouring its commitments on policing, demilitarisation, on-the-runs and the right of citizens to live free from sectarian harassment. We also presented the British prime minister with an equality document recently produced by the party.
"Our discussions focused on the widespread sectarian attacks against Catholics by unionist paramilitaries and killings by those organisations. We pointed to the fact that the DUP has no difficulty sitting on commissions with members of those unionist paramilitary organisations."
The DUP's tax proposal was contained in a party dossier the prime minister discussed with the Rev Ian Paisley's delegation in Downing Street.
A DUP source said: "Our dossier comes in four sections - one covering the political institutions, a financial and economic section, social issues, such as deprivation in inner-city areas, and cultural issues. Some of it covers ground we dealt with in negotiations last year and it is a case of ticking the boxes to ensure the government will honour commitments made last year . . .
"We also have new ideas on the regeneration of the economy - the idea of tax incentives, which the Irish Republic has been able to operate successfully. We also would like to renegotiate the Reform and Reinvestment Initiative and see a special financial package for a new executive to tackle infrastructural problems for the whole community."