Exchanges involving Sinn Féin and the Democratic Unionist Party are entering a new and challenging phase as the Northern Ireland parties and the Irish and British governments prepare for next month's intensive negotiations in connection with a review of the Belfast Agreement.
In advance of those discussions, efforts are being made by the two major parties to prepare their constituents for the concessions that will have to be made if a power-sharing executive is to be formed and the various institutions re-established. And, in the nature of these things, the exchanges have ranged from exploratory to harshly critical and deeply ambiguous.
Last Wednesday, Mr Jeffrey Donaldson of the DUP went to nationalist west Belfast - against the advice of the security forces - and addressed a public meeting that included the Sinn Féin president, Mr Adams. If the impasse in the peace process was to be broken, Mr Donaldson told his listeners, IRA decommissioning would have to be completed within a defined timescale. And he would like to see that happen before Christmas.
Since then, in a series of statements and interviews, Mr Adams has maintained that while there were justifiable fears within unionism about the IRA, political unionism was using the IRA and IRA arms as an excuse to obstruct negotiations. Republicans had to be prepared to remove that excuse, he said, before observing that the IRA was only likely to go out of existence as part of an ongoing process of sustainable change. The Sinn Féin president responded to predictable unionist criticisms by questioning their commitment to making progress in the coming negotiations. He called on the DUP to talk directly to Sinn Féin and said the party would have to share power with republicans and join with them in resolving such issues as policing if they were to bring about political stability and an end to all armed groups.
In spite of the disagreements, all the parties are publicly committed to making progress in the talks and to ending the suspension of the Assembly and executive. They differ, however, in approach and objectives. And they are cautiously attempting to create the necessary space in which political accommodations may be made. The issues to be resolved are well known: paramilitary activity, arms decommissioning, demilitarisation, stability of the various institutions under the Belfast Agreement and policing.
The DUP became the largest unionist party in Northern Ireland on a platform of devolved government and the renegotiation of the Belfast Agreement. It has refused to negotiate directly with Sinn Féin while the IRA remains an armed force. And while that may change, the prospect of sharing power with Sinn Féin in similar circumstances appears to be a bridge too far. A lack of trust between the parties is a major obstacle to the peace process. But considerable efforts were made to ensure a peaceful marching season. And these ongoing political exchanges can only help to concentrate minds.