The British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, has moved to accelerate progress on policing, promising adequate resources for the PSNI and discussing legislative amendments with the SDLP.
Mr Blair, allocating the morning of September 11th to the peace process, met the new Chief Constable, Mr Hugh Orde, at Downing Street and afterwards promised to address the question of resources. "It's important that he does have the resources necessary. We are not tolerating no-go areas or areas where the rule of law does not apply," he said.
Mr Orde is to produce a report on his requirements before the end of the month and he is expected to appeal for retention of the 2,000-strong Full-Time Reserve when he meets the Policing Board on September 27th.
The Chief Constable told reporters afterwards of concerns that recruitment could be hampered by a shortage of Catholic applicants. If Sinn Féin took its places on the Policing Board, he believed that a significant number of Catholics could be attracted to a career in policing.
"The key issue in the long term is can we encourage enough Catholic recruits to join us, so I can recruit as many as I need to recruit overall. I have some real concerns about that." Significantly, he added: "If Sinn Féin comes on to the Policing Board, that will open up a raft of high-quality applicants from the Catholic community, whom I need to be as representative as can be."
Pressure is building on Sinn Féin to take its seats on the 19-member board, which runs policing in the North. There have been repeated calls for the party's participation following moves to establish District Policing Partnerships, local bodies of elected and community representatives which will work to provide locally-accountable policing.
Mr Richard Haass, the US special envoy to the North, is expected to repeat his calls for Sinn Féin to join the board and work from the inside for the changes it seeks to policing when he hosts a series of meetings at Stormont today.
The SDLP leader and Deputy First Minister, Mr Mark Durkan, led a delegation to see Mr Blair following the Prime Minister's meeting with the Chief Constable.
Mr Durkan said afterwards that the British government would deliver on commitments made to his party at the Weston Park talks in August last year.
Amendments to policing legislation are expected in the next session of parliament, Mr Durkan said. "We have said we want to see these commitments made good, we want to see that legislation tabled in full, and he [Mr Blair\] has indicated that will be in the next session."
In a significant remark which could serve to calm unionist concerns that the British government was planning "concessions" on policing to entice Sinn Féin to back the new arrangements, Mr Durkan added: "He [the Prime Minister] also made it very clear to us that neither he nor the Secretary of State have made any other commitment of any other nature in relation to legislative changes to any other party."
Momentum could be sustained today when the Ulster Unionist leader and First Minister, Mr David Trimble, meets Mr Blair for talks. Their exchanges could have a direct bearing on the deliberations of the ruling Ulster Unionist Council, which meets in Belfast on September 21st.
Mr Trimble, who is under continual pressure from some of his own MPs over sharing power on the Northern Executive with Sinn Féin while there are alleged breaches of the IRA ceasefire, could raise the appointment of an independent ceasefire monitor. Following talks yesterday between the UUP and the Northern Secretary, Dr John Reid, this seems probable, but the Northern Secretary will be reluctant to relinquish having the final say on the status of any ceasefire.