US President George W Bush today urged the Reverend Ian Paisley to continue his efforts to restore powersharing to Northern Ireland.
After another day of tension in Dublin, London and Belfast it emerged Mr Bush contacted the DUP leader by telephone and is expected to call Sinn Féin President Mr Gerry Adams to help secure a breakthrough in the current impasse.
But as the DUP's negotiators studied revised proposals from both governments to resurrect Stormont, it emerged they would not reach a definitive view on the document until Monday.
Before meeting his Assembly team, Mr Paisley confirmed he had had a long and useful conversation with President Bush at lunchtime today.
The North Antrim MP said: "I told him I would like to be in a position to make a deal but that any deal must be fair and it must address to my satisfaction and my electorate's satisfaction all the fundamental issues that have blocked progress for so long.
"We told him that we must build a solid foundation in order to move forward.
"We reminded the President of the fact that he would not have terrorists in his government and that we must be satisfied that IRA terrorism is over and cannot return."
It was still unclear tonight if Sinn Féin and the DUP would be able to agree in these talks a lasting political settlement.
The Democratic Unionists have been pressing for visible disarmament by the IRA, with photographic evidence of a future decommissioning act.
Republicans insist that would be a matter for the IRA to decide and agree with the head of the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning, General John de Chastelain.
The DUP also wants the Provisional IRA to abandon all paramilitary and criminal activity if it is to share power with Sinn Féin, insisting the IRA becomes an old boy's association.
On his return from talks in London with the British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Sinn Féin leader Mr
Adams confirmed in Belfast that he had not yet gone to the IRA with any proposal that it should disarm.
The West Belfast MP explained: "Why haven't we gone to the IRA? We haven't gone to the IRA because we haven't got a comprehensive package.
"As far as we are concerned, all of these issues (on weapons) should be issues for that organisation to decide.
"As far as us as a political party is concerned, the arms issue should
be dealt with under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement, which means the de Chastelain Commission.
"I would also say, when you are asking for something, it is useful to be civil and temperate in your language.
"If people in the DUP genuinely want others to do things, don't refer to them as gangsters, don't use offensive language in the way that it has been used in the past because the Sinn Féin team could quite easily get into Ulster Resistance, its weapons and all of that.
"We haven't. We have taken a conscious decision not to because this is about politics.
"This is about trying to get a peace process in place which delivers politics which can treat people on the basis of equality."
Sinn Féin and DUP negotiators were expected to take all of this weekend to consider their response to the package of proposals from the Taoiseach Mr Ahern and Mr Blair.
Mr Adams, who also met former South African President Nelson Mandela in London today, said the party was still trying to digest the latest paper from the two governments.
The DUP's Assembly team was expected to meet again on Monday to discuss their response, with their leader heading to Downing Street on Tuesday.