British prime minister Tony Blair has decided to cut short his Miami holiday by a day to try to head off a potential collapse of efforts to have Sinn Féin sign up to policing, writes Gerry Moriarty, Northern Editor.
Mr Blair last night decided to shorten his Christmas break after a series of telephone contacts with Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams alerted him to a serious concern that the chance of reaching a political deal was in danger of breaking down, a senior talks source confirmed.
Mr Blair is due to engage in further intensive telephone contact with Mr Adams and the DUP leader, the Rev Ian Paisley, today in an effort to persuade them to find middle-ground on policing.
The concern was sparked publicly last night after Sinn Féin's most senior spokesman issued a statement implicitly warning of the threat to the political process. He repeated how last week's ardchomhairle agreed to call an ardfheis on policing subject chiefly to the DUP responding positively.
"To date there has been no such positive response from the DUP. Given the seriousness of this situation the Sinn Féin leadership has been in intensive discussions with the British government," he added.
The spokesman said Mr Adams had spoken several times to Mr Blair over recent days, most recently last night.
The complaint about the absence of a positive DUP response was a reference to Dr Paisley's new year statement where he said he could sign up to a specific timetable for transferring policing powers to the Northern Executive, which is a key demand of Sinn Féin.
However, while there were positive notes in the statement, it was clear from London, Dublin and Sinn Féin sources that more was expected of Dr Paisley after Sinn Féin, under Mr Adams's direction, took the step of calling a prospective ardfheis on policing for later this month. It was felt that the statement was too equivocal on whether the DUP might agree a date for the transfer of policing powers.
The governments fear that without Dr Paisley providing a more positive form of words about the policing timeframe then the ardfheis will not take place and the chance to agree a deal where Sinn Féin historically endorses the PSNI could be lost.
The prime minister was in contact with Dr Paisley over recent days, sources said.
Current difficulties are exacerbated by hardline DUP politicians and republicans attempting to scupper a deal.
A Government spokeswoman said the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern discussed the potential crisis with Mr Blair on Tuesday evening.
"A successful Sinn Féin ardfheis is essential to keep the St Andrews timetable on track and every effort must be made by all parties to ensure that this happens," she added.