The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, and the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, with much labour from their overworked officials, have put together "the guts of a package" aimed at breaking the deadlock and safeguarding the Belfast Agreement, according to senior sources.
But there is still a lot of fine detail to be concluded and difficult conundrums to be resolved to the mutual satisfaction of unionists and nationalists. The mood is neutral, neither optimistic nor pessimistic. Late last night there were no punters foolish enough to wager money on the outcome of these negotiations.
The talking didn't start until around teatime and was continuing at Weston Park late last night. We were told that lunch is ordered for the participants today and one official even warned that the talks could go through to the Sabbath.
According to sources, Thursday's break wasn't just to allow Ulster Unionists join their Orange brethren on parades around the North. Sinn Fein people also engaged in some serious talking with IRA leaders on what, by proxy, it might bring to the negotiating table, reported one insider. However, last night one Sinn Fein source denied this.
One republican warned that anyone who says he or she knows what the IRA is going to do on arms is a fantasist. That is generally good advice. Still, the unconfirmed word around Weston Park yesterday was that the IRA might be prepared to "put beyond use" the two or three dumps that have already been viewed by the arms inspectors.
There was also speculation that the IRA might use some form of words to try to reassure unionists and the wider community that its violence is truly a thing of the past.
Mr Adams in his London speech used some interesting language in this area. "From within the broad republican constituency we are working for the day when all the armed groups, including the IRA, cease to be," he said.
He added he was totally committed "to bringing a permanent end to political conflict on our island, including physical force republicanism. I say this conscious of the dangers, risks, and history of such departures."
Whether the IRA would verifiably seal or cement these dumps, which some unionists say are already compromised, remains problematic but what seems certain is that the issue of arms is being more seriously addressed now. Prior to Thursday's break it wasn't just Mr Seamus Mallon and Mr David Trimble who were expressing deep frustration that republicans were avoiding the guns issues, but Mr Ahern and Mr Blair as well.
Ulster Unionists, of course, want more. They want a timetable and modalities about when and how all IRA arsenals will be rendered "permanently inaccessible, permanently unusable". This final, crucial stage of these talks is designed to reconcile what could yet be irreconcilable on arms.
The word last night too was that Mr Blair has shown his cards on demilitarisation, and that a "huge amount of work" was completed on policing. The officials compiling how the Police Act might be amended are trying to strike a balance but there is little doubt that most of the pain here will be for Ulster Unionists and Mr Trimble.
Mr Blair is anxious that the RUC name remains in the "title deeds" of the Act, but that for all working purposes the name of the force will be the Police Service of Northern Ireland.
This, at least, would provide Mr Trimble with a fig-leaf argument that the RUC is not disbanded.
But in terms of accountability issues, Sinn Fein is holding out for greater powers for the 19member Policing Board, the district policing partnerships, the police ombudsman and the oversight commissioner.
There were reports Mr Blair may also allow non-judicial inquiries into the murders of Pat Finucane, Rosemary Nelson and Robert Hamill and that as a quid pro quo the Irish Government may allow an inquiry into unionist allegations that some gardai colluded with the IRA.
Efforts continue to persuade Mr Blair to allow former paramilitaries take places on the Policing Board or the more localised district policing partnerships.
This issue would be a very emotive matter for unionists, almost on a par with prisoner releases and the axing of the RUC name. It is made doubly difficult against the backdrop of Thursday's violence in Belfast, which the RUC say was orchestrated by republicans. "We can't take on any more water on policing," one senior Ulster Unionist insisted yesterday.
Up to last night nothing had been set in stone. But at least the leaders and the pro-agreement parties appeared to be inching to endgame at Weston Park. And that means either a comprehensive package that addresses all the issues or some form of soft landing whereby we would all be back in Shropshire or Hillsborough or Stormont in the autumn to try again.