Mr Gerry Adams and Mr David Trimble and their negotiating teams were meeting late into last night at Hillsborough Castle as the prospects of a deal which would lead to Assembly elections and a workable Executive hung on a knife-edge.
While a historic agreement involving an IRA commitment to wind up as a paramilitary force and an Ulster Unionist pledge to work fully the Belfast Agreement appeared on the brink of achievement, reliable sources late last night warned that the current negotiations could still collapse.
Sources said persuading the IRA to engage in a form of disarmament which would prove credible to sceptical unionists was a sticking point in the negotiations late last night. Well-placed sources also said significant progress was made over the weekend on persuading the IRA to issue a statement which would convince unionists it was in the process of ceasing paramilitary activity.
The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, and the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, were poised to return to Hillsborough today or tomorrow if outstanding issues could be resolved in further sensitive negotiations today, The Irish Times was told.
Although Mr Blair was admitted to hospital for heart checks last night and later released, a spokesman for the prime minister said he would ready to attend any meetings whether in London or Belfast.
Mr Adams and Mr Trimble and their respective Sinn Féin and Ulster Unionist negotiating teams were late last night continuing their talks at Hillsborough Castle, which began at 9 a.m. yesterday. Initially, a number of talks insiders said there were positive signals of an imminent breakthrough but last night they were urging caution.
"The talks seem to be going in the right direction but the result is still far from certain," said one well-placed source. A senior Sinn Féin source said the negotiations would continue today. No deal was yet struck although "the engagement remains positive", he said.
Mr Ahern in Bodenstown yesterday also stressed that while a deal was possible which could lead to elections and a functioning Executive, the prospects of a deal could still unravel. He said three outstanding issues remained to be resolved. It is understood that these are:
° IRA wording which would convince unionists it is winding down as a paramilitary force;
° An Ulster Unionist commitment to accept the devolution of responsibility for criminal justice and policing to the Assembly based on a reciprocal agreement that Sinn Féin would endorse the PSNI, and
° A more persuasive third act of IRA decommissioning.
Mr Trimble, in a carefully crafted speech to the Ulster Unionist annual conference on Saturday, which Sinn Féin described as "encouraging", suggested that while the IRA must indicate that it would cease activity, he was not expecting the immediate disbandment of the organisation.
A senior Ulster Unionist talks source added the party was prepared to offer "some flexibility" in the type of language it would accept from the IRA. "The crucial thing is that the intention is there [to end activity\] and that it is carried into effect," he said.
Progress, it is understood, was also made over the weekend on the difficult issue of policing and criminal justice. Mr Trimble told his party conference that in principle, he wanted to see responsibility for these two issues devolved to the Executive over the lifetime of the next Assembly, but as a quid quo pro, he said it was imperative that Sinn Féin supported the police.