Northern Ireland will feature prominently at the British Labour Party conference in Blackpool this afternoon, with Mr David Trimble and Mr Seamus Mallon expected to join the platform party for Mr Tony Blair's address to delegates.
The Sinn Fein president, Mr Gerry Adams, is also expected to be in the Winter Gardens to hear Mr Blair's speech, a significant section of which is likely to be devoted to the peace process.
The decision to invite Mr Trimble and Mr Mallon, Northern Ireland's First and Deputy First Ministers, to join cabinet ministers on the platform underlines Mr Blair's determination to celebrate the achievement of the Belfast Agreement and to demonstrate the scale of British political support for it.
Mr Trimble and Mr Mallon are scheduled to make further joint appearances on the conference fringe tonight and will formally address the conference tomorrow afternoon in the company of the Northern Secretary, Dr Mo Mowlam.
However, despite the congratulations they will receive in Blackpool, it seemed clear last night that the two men had failed to resolve their differences over the decommissioning of paramilitary weapons and the creation of a shadow executive after their meeting in Stormont yesterday.
The political focus will quickly turn to the private talks Mr Blair will have with Mr Trimble and Mr Mallon and, separately, with Mr Adams, after tomorrow's conference appearance. Sources close to Mr Blair have been playing down the prospect of any significant developments this week, and it seemed last night that Mr Trimble was proceeding with his plans for a 10-day visit to the United States, starting next week.
Yesterday's meeting between Mr Trimble and Mr Mallon was the first since their differences last week over the proper interpretation of the agreement. Although there was no formal press conference after the meeting, a spokesman for Mr Mallon described the meeting as "useful and businesslike".
While relations between the two politicians are said to be fairly cordial, there is still no indication of any break in the deadlock over IRA disarmament and the creation of the executive. Mr Mallon is said to be still vehemently contradicting Mr Trimble's assertion that the agreement demands prior IRA decommissioning before an executive can be formed. Mr Mallon wants the creation of the North-South Council to be tied to the formation of the executive.
A well-informed Ulster Unionist Party source said yesterday that Mr Trimble now believed that the impasse would prevent the formation of the North-South Council by the October 31st deadline, as set out in the agreement.
Meanwhile, Mr Blair is expected to address a joint sitting of the Oireachtas on November 26th, making him the first British prime minister to do so in the history of the State. His visit, details of which have yet to be finalised, stems from an invitation issued to him by the Taoiseach when Mr Blair came to Dublin for the first time as prime minister on June 1st during a tour of European capitals in advance of the last summit of Britain's EU presidency.