The British Prime Minister remains optimistic agreement can be reached on the return of devolution to Stormont.
Mr Tony Blair told a Downing Street press conference yesterday he would devote much time to the question in the immediate future. He said he was encouraged by the tone of talks at Leeds Castle last month and by the engagement of the DUP in those and subsequent meetings.
However, he cautioned: "One way or another they will decide whether people have got the final political will to get the job done."
"The grounds for optimism are that we believe that the issues separating people are very well defined now, and it is clear that all sides actually want an agreement," Mr Blair said. "Whether that optimism is misplaced or justified, I think the next few weeks will tell."
His comments were made in London as a controversy erupted over an article by the vice-chairman of the Policing Board, Mr Denis Bradley, in which he argued against ongoing direct rule and claimed some republican areas had inadequate policing.
In a political column for the Derry Journal, Mr Bradley outlined what he sees as the dangers of ongoing direct rule and the consequences of that for new policing arrangements and for politics.
Speaking to The Irish Times last night, Mr Bradley said: "To continue under direct rule with no consequences is a dangerous analysis. The people for whom it is most dangerous and burdensome and the people who have taken the most strain in recent years are mainly Catholics and nationalists from the Border areas and for Catholics who have joined the police."
He said because of verbal attacks by Sinn Féin and physical attacks by dissident republicans, many police recruits who are Catholics cannot return to their homes. "They are getting it in the neck from Sinn Féin on the one hand and the dissidents on the other."
Direct rule is not an option, he said, and another form of rule which gives "cover" to both unionists and nationalists was needed in the event of no deal being secured to restore Stormont.
"There is no Plan B, and never was," he claimed, and the two governments should come up with one.
The DUP called for Mr Bradley to be removed from the Policing Board and claimed his comments could encourage dissidents to attack PSNI officers.
Mr Ian Paisley junior, who is also a member of the Policing Board, said Mr Bradley's comments were "disgraceful".
"He ought to either retract these words or else he should have the decency to resign from the police board."
Mr Paisley said Mr Bradley had "created a situation where now his support for the police is conditional upon republicans getting their own way."
The DUP said it would push for Mr Bradley's dismissal at a meeting with the Northern Secretary.
Sinn Féin said Mr Bradley's argument underscored its decision not to endorse policing.
Mr Mitchel McLaughlin, the party chairman, said: "This is an admission by the vice chair of the Policing Board that Patten has not been implemented and that the current arrangements do not meet the demand of the Good Friday agreement for an accountable policing service. Sinn Féin have been saying this for the past three years when Mr Bradley, along with the SDLP, jumped to endorse flawed policing arrangements." Mr Bradley dismissed this as "inane".
Mr Alex Attwood, the SDLP policing spokesman, said: "It is the failure of others to participate in the policing structures, to encourage people to join the police and provide help to the PSNI and Garda Siochána that is a big weakness in moving policing on . . . This is the big failure of courage by Sinn Féin. As Denis Bradley says."