As talks aimed at breaking the deadlock continue, the North's Political Development Minister said even if the Mitchell review failed, the Belfast Agreement would be the basis for achieving devolution.
Mr George Howarth's comments yesterday seemed designed to concentrate minds in Stormont that, as far as the British government is concerned, there is no alternative to the Belfast Agreement. He indicated the agreement would continue to serve as the foundation for political progress.
Mr Howarth said the government remained committed to devolving power even if the talks chaired by Senator George Mitchell collapsed. Despite growing pessimism, he said it was too early to "give up" on the agreement. "Certainly George Mitchell has the skills and the confidence to bring something to a head." He added: "But if he doesn't we still have the Good Friday agreement which people voted for in the referendum, and which many of the politicians signed up for. We still have to find a way forward with that." There was little sign of a breakthrough as Senator Mitchell stepped up his review at Castle Buildings. However, there was an indication of some thawing of the hitherto frosty relationship between Mr David Trimble and Mr Seamus Mallon.
They had their first formal face-to-face encounter since the SDLP deputy leader resigned as deputy first minister in mid-July, primarily in protest at Mr Trimble's refusal to form an executive.
Before the talks Mr Trimble complained of previous "intemperate" language from the SDLP but afterwards his spokesman said the meeting between the SDLP and UUP delegations, which lasted well over an hour, was "forward-looking".
Mr Mallon described it as "honest and constructive". Both he and Mr Trimble avoided engaging in recriminations, he said. Following his talks with the UUP, Sinn Fein and the other parties, he detected "at least a desire to solve the problems" surrounding the impasse over decommissioning and the executive.
Mr Mallon said the discussions with the UUP were "very forthright". But it was too early to predict the chances of the review succeeding. "I would not put odds on it. We know what's at stake. We know how important it is that we get a resolution and if we can at least get some sense of hope in ourselves we can transmit that sense of hope to others." The Sinn Fein president, Mr Gerry Adams, also played down any prospects of imminent progress. "There is a need for people to work together, as opposed to working against each other. There needs to be a political will. That political will, as far as I can see, is absent at this time."
Mr Martin McGuinness, the Sinn Fein MP for Mid-Ulster, said the responsibility for achieving decommissioning lay with Mr Trimble as much as with republicans. Addressing the UUP leader, he said: "You have to show that we are moving forward to a new dispensation and that this agreement is going to be implemented and that provides the best hope of removing all of the guns, British and Irish, from Irish politics."
Sinn Fein held separate meetings with Senator Mitchell, the Northern Secretary, Dr Mo Mowlam, and Alliance yesterday. There was also a series of meetings involving the SDLP and UUP with the smaller pro-agreement parties.
Dr Mowlam, who said she was standing by her judgment that the IRA ceasefire remains intact, offered her best wishes to the parties in their attempt to break the logjam. Politicians had a duty to uphold the wishes of the people who voted for the agreement. "We came very close in July but everybody - and I mean everybody - is going to have to do what the people of Northern Ireland want."
