The North's Deputy First Minister, Mr Seamus Mallon, has expressed hope that agreement can be reached next week on the number of departments in the executive.
Mr Mallon was speaking after round-table talks at Stormont yesterday involving the six pro-agreement parties. The DUP, the UK Unionists, and the United Unionists did not attend because of Sinn Fein's presence.
But they will meet Mr Mallon and the First Minister, Mr David Trimble, for bilateral discussions on Monday. The other parties are also expected to meet the two leaders on a bilateral basis. Yesterday's talks were divided into two sessions. In the morning, the parties discussed the internal political structures to be set up at Stormont, focusing on the number of departments in the executive. The main disagreement was whether there should be seven or 10 departments. The UUP wanted seven - which would give two ministerial positions to itself, the SDLP and the DUP and one to Sinn Fein.
Sinn Fein was unhappy with this and, together with the SDLP and Alliance, argued for 10, which would give the party two ministries. In the afternoon, the parties discussed areas for North-South co-operation. Mr Mallon said: "It was a good day's work but time will tell how profitable it will be. We might have moved forward to some degree." Mr Trimble said it had been helpful to clarify the areas of disagreement but he stressed there were "no firm, concluded agreements". Overall, there had been a "significant amount of progress" but the North-South body was a complex issue which would require more work.
The Sinn Fein chairman, Mr Mitchel McLaughlin, said "some progress" had been made. "We got through 70 per cent of the objectives we set ourselves".