Dublin view: A second day of tortuous negotiations at Hillsborough Castle left the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern frustrated, following the steady evaporation of hopes that a deal could be brokered.
The Taoiseach, who had returned to Dublin late on Monday, returned to Hillsborough shortly before 8.30 a.m., accompanied by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, and the Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell.
The Government delegation had growing hopes by late afternoon yesterday that a deal was in sight, though Sinn Féin's objections to efforts to sanction them for future IRA actions sent the talks into a second late night.
"That is a bridge too far for them. They refuse to accept that it is part of the Good Friday agreement," a Department of Foreign Affairs source told The Irish Times late last night.
By late afternoon, the Government had begun privately to accept that the May 1st Assembly deadline elections cannot be met, though speedy IRA decommissioning moves could "fast forward" the process, it still insisted.
"It is clear that the Ulster Unionists need to build confidence in their community and that there will be some sanctions for the IRA if they don't do what they say that they will do," a Government source said.
Last night the Government hoped that the IRA will produce a dramatic, though still unspecified move by March 21st - which is, ironically, the date by which the NI Assembly elections should be called.
The two governments proposed a Verification Commission to monitor the conduct of all parties, and others made up of distinguished figures from the Republic, the UK and the US.
However, the Government accepted the Ulster Unionists' demand that the new commission - which, if set up, will work in parallel with the International Body on Decommissioning - would also have one Northern representative.
Despite the pessimism, an early IRA move would "create a context" for progress, if followed by formal backing for a deal from the Sinn Féin ardfheis and Ulster Unionist executive council at the end of the month. During a seemingly endless round of meetings, Mr Ahern, along with the British Prime Minister, Mr Blair, made some progress on a number of issues, including the timetable for British army withdrawals.
The Government, along with the SDLP and Sinn Féin, successfully pushed for changes in criminal justice rules, including measures to ensure that the Northern Ireland judiciary would more accurately reflect the population mix.
"The Ulster Unionists are not particularly happy about all of that, because they feel if interferes with the powers of the United Kingdom's Lord Chief Justice to control the judiciary.
"But this issue is not a deal breaker for them, even if they don't like it. Their focus throughout the day has been on sanctions, sanctions, sanctions," a Government source commented.
Under the changes, the NI Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions will have to be transparent about decision-making, particularly about explaining decisions to prosecute cases.
"Both the SDLP and Sinn Féin and ourselves were unhappy about the UK's Criminal Justice 2000 Bill because we did not believe that it accurately reflect the view that had taken place of the criminal justice system," he added.
Despite, perhaps, more optimistic projections from other quarters, the Taoiseach had had doubts on Monday night about the prospects for a deal emerging from the negotiations.
However, the decision of the Ulster Unionist Leader, Mr Trimble at 7 p.m. last night clearly caused disappointment, though the Government was keen to play down its significance.
