There was continuing speculation last night that the Irish and British governments may be on the verge of tabling proposals for overcoming the difficulties in the stalled peace process.
However, sources in the main political parties in the North said it would be "premature" to believe any new initiative would get the institutions of the Belfast Agreement re-established.
A new round of meetings to attempt to close the gap between the Ulster Unionists and Sinn Fein will begin on Tuesday when the Taoiseach and the British Prime Minister meet the parties in Downing Street.
Mr Ahern and Mr Blair will hold separate talks with the UUP and Sinn Fein. Should progress be made on Tuesday, there is a possibility that the two leaders will travel to Belfast later in the week, at which stage a joint position paper could be published.
It is unlikely, however, that Mr Ahern and Mr Blair would finalise the paper without some degree of confidence that the UUP and Sinn Fein would sign up to the contents.
UUP sources say Mr Trimble is "perturbed" that the British government may agree to proposals falling short of the republican movement giving a firm commitment to decommission. They suggest such a development would pose great difficulties for Mr Trimble's leadership. The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, said last night the two governments were "still exploring intensively" how the current deadlock could be overcome. Next week's meetings would signal the start of "a further concerted effort to bridge the gap and to find a basis for the restoration of the institutions".
The Northern Assembly and Executive have now been suspended for longer than the 72 days for which they were operational. Mr Cowen said this period, between December 2nd, 1999, and February 11th last, offered "a glimpse of just how good the future could be".
The Fine Gael leader, Mr John Bruton, said the core problem was an unwillingness by the paramilitary groups "to throw away the crutch of the weaponry and move forward on their own two feet like normal politicians".