British Prime Minister Mr Tony Blair confirmed yesterday he is pressing for full disclosure of the detail of the IRA's latest act of decommissioning, as required by Ulster Unionist leader Mr David Trimble.
At the same time Northern Ireland's Secretary of State Mr Paul Murphy told MPs the British government would "of course" accept the democratic wishes of the people of Northern Ireland as expressed in next month's Assembly election.
Mr Murphy gave the assurance to DUP MP Mrs Iris Robinson in the House of Commons yesterday as he confirmed he had signed the necessary order effecting the November 26th poll.
Mrs Robinson had asked Mr Murphy for assurance that he would respect the election outcome should the Democratic Unionist Party become the largest unionist party in the new Assembly. She also told Mr Murphy "no deal will work without the support of a majority of unionists as well as nationalists".
Mr Murphy said: "Of course we will respect the democratic wishes of the people of Northern Ireland."
However, in a reminder of the Labour government's scepticism about the DUP's planned renegotiation of the Belfast Agreement, Mr Murphy said the responsibility of all the major parties was to ensure the return of devolved government.
Mrs Robinson's intervention trailed what could become an important election issue. It follows renewed speculation that the scheduled review of the Belfast Agreement will consider a lowering of the Assembly's cross-community voting rules should Mr Trimble fail to win the necessary votes to re-establish the power-sharing Executive.
Speaking ahead of Mr Murphy's Commons statement, Mr Blair - responding to questions from Conservative leader Mr Iain Duncan Smith - said he was trying to resolve the "unsatisfactory situation" in which he could not disclose details of a decommissioning act by the IRA which could satisfy people in Northern Ireland.
Mr Blair said: "Under the decommissioning legislation, it is open to a paramilitary organisation to decommission with confidentiality. That is the arrangement they entered into with Gen de Chastelain. We are not at liberty to disclose that information, but we are working hard to find a way to try and disclose it."
However, Mr Murphy later sidestepped sharp questioning from the SDLP's Mr Séamus Mallon, who demanded to know if Tuesday's talks breakdown was rooted in "Sinn Féin's deviousness" or Ulster Unionist incompetence.
As DUP members chortled their approval, Mr Mallon pressed: "Did Sinn Féin say that the act of decommissioning would be transparent, or did the Ulster Unionist Party forget to ask them about the confidentiality clause this parliament wrote into the legislation?"
Mr Mallon also lashed the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, and Mr Blair for what he described as "a foolish and shabby decision" to give "exclusive negotiating rights to two parties" (the UUP and Sinn Féin) who in different ways had each damaged the Belfast Agreement.