The PUP leader, Mr David Ervine, has said he is prepared to hold a one-to-one meeting with Sinn Fein. He was speaking on the eve of today's Ulster Unionist executive party meeting at which Mr David Trimble is expected to be questioned about his position on Sinn Fein entering the new powersharing executive.
Mr Ervine said his decision was "a necessary one but a difficult one". He said those who could be described as enemies needed to talk to each other if the peace process was to move forward and the Stormont Assembly was to work.
The PUP leader said he had already been over "the emotional hurdle" of meeting Sinn Fein at the talks table, along with other parties, and it was now time for one-to-one dialogue between his party and republicans. He said he had no exact plans for a meeting.
Mr Ervine said the Belfast Agreement required dialogue between the two traditions and "interaction" in the Assembly was vital. "We all need to talk in order to deliver a decent service to the people of Northern Ireland."
He stressed that constitutional issues were not the only ones that needed to be addressed and that all parties had similar interests in discussing agriculture, education, the environment, urban regeneration, and health.
When asked if he thought Mr Trimble should follow his example, Mr Ervine said that the UUP leader would make his own decision but he had a "remit which will undoubtedly take him down a road of interaction between the two traditions".
Sinn Fein welcomed the announcement. Assembly member, Ms Bairbre De Brun, said it recognised the "rights of our electorate and the substantial mandate which Sinn Fein has received in successive elections".
"It is only when we all accept the equal legitimacy of each other's mandate that we will be able to move forward in a mutually beneficial fashion," she said. However, the DUP criticised the development. A party spokesman said: "Once again the PUP has shown its willingness to do the bidding of the Northern Ireland Office and act as the forerunner for David Trimble. "This announcement will come as no surprise to those who have witnessed the closeness between Sinn Fein/IRA members and certain members of the PUP and the policy similarities shared by the two parties."
The spokesman said the British government and Mr Trimble had been "searching very hard for some politician to prepare the ground for the final cave-in by the Ulster Unionists". The UUP executive, the party's policy-making body, meets this morning in Belfast to discuss the latest political developments.
Dissident MPs including Mr Willie Ross, Mr Jeffrey Donaldson, and the Rev Martin Smyth are expected to be among the 90 members who attend. Pro-Agreement sources said they did not believe Mr Trimble would "get a hard time". One said: "David has impressed many people with his speech during the Clinton visit. I think it will be possible to postpone any decision on letting Sinn Fein into the new executive."
It is understood Mr Trimble will be asked whether he intends to shake hands with Mr Adams when he meets all the party leaders in the Assembly on Monday. An anti-agreement source said: "That meeting will be on the agenda but I think we will be most interested to hear David's plans on letting Sinn Fein into government.
"Opinion has hardened since Omagh and I can't see the party agreeing to Sinn Fein ministers without decommissioning."
Meanwhile, the chairman of the international decommissioning body, General John de Chastelain, has said he is working hard to achieve a simultaneous weapons hand-over by republicans and loyalists. He welcomed Sinn Fein's appointment of Mr Martin McGuinness to liaise with the body.