AGREEMENT on the handling of the decommissioning issue is, central to Irish proposals to accelerate the Stormont talks process, it emerged last night.
London and Dublin agreed at Thursday night's emergency Intergovernmental Conference to seek to end the continuing dispute about rules and procedures, and to move the talks process into a new phase of substantive negotiation.
Irish sources last night confirmed their hope that progress over the next two weeks would enable the start of negotiations in the three strands of the talks immediately after the planned August break.
However, it emerged this would require unionist agreement that the issue of decommissioning paramilitary weapons should be referred to a committee, which would consider the issue in parallel with the political negotiations.
There is a growing belief in government and political circles that nothing less will ensure the SDLP's return to the talks process in September.
One senior Irish source said. "You can't put the process to bed for the summer, with the promise of a protracted decommissioning dispute to come in the autumn.", The assessment in Dublin is that under pressure of events on the ground, the SDLP "could not sustain that position within their own community".
Sources said the present "snail's pace" in the talks process could not be maintained. "It simply isn't sustainable in terms of public credibility, or in terms of a nationalist perception that David Trimble can dictate the pace of everything."
The talks, which began on June 10th, have still not completed the "opening agenda", which provides for opening statements by the party leaders to be followed by "discussion on decommissioning and other confidence building measures".
Irish Government sources last night expressed the belief that agreement to start substantive negotiations in September could send a powerful signal that the process had validity. But they suggested the future of the progress hung on the question of British political will and London's ability to "deliver" the Ulster, Unionist leader.
Geraldine Kennedy, Political Correspondent, writes.
The two governments will hold a series of separate bilateral meetings at the multi party talks in Belfast on Monday, hoping to persuade participants to move on from the preliminary phase of the agenda.
The Government's delegation will comprise the Minister for Justice, Mrs Owen the Minister for Equality and Law Reform, Mr Taylor and the Minister of State, Mr Hugh Coveney. The Tanaiste. Mr Spring, will depart for a five day visit to Malaysia and Australia, tomorrow as President of the Council of Ministers for the Irish Presidency of the EU.
Commenting on the British government's response to Thursday's" Anglo Irish meeting, the president of Sinn Fein, Mr Gerry Adams, said that the British approach to this crisis was to pretend that nothing had happened.
But this ignored the reality that confidence in the ability of the talks process to deliver meaningful change had already disappeared. "The reality is that there is no confidence in the Stormont talks process," he added.
The Fianna Fail leader, Mr, Bertie Ahern, met an Alliance Party delegation for 11/2 hours in a hotel outside Dundalk yesterday. Mr Ahern said, after the meeting, that it was quite clear that if the talks did not move into a substantive phase by Monday week, "it will be a terminal situation".