Gerry Adams and David Trimble stood shoulder to shoulder recently, at the urinal of one of the toilets of Castle Buildings, Stormont, recalled a unionist talks delegate this week.

The circumstances, so to speak, meant that Mr Trimble was unable to walk away directly, so Mr Adams took his chance. "Ah, come on now, David, surely we can sit down together to work this thing out?" he said.

Mr Trimble stared straight ahead coldly as Mr Adams continued his flow of words, imploring the UUP leader to deal directly with Sinn Fein in face-to-face talks. The more Mr Adams persisted the more Mr Trimble kept his counsel, but eventually he could no longer restrain himself.

"Grow up," he finally snapped at the Sinn Fein leader, as he completed his business and stormed out of the lavatory.

It was contact of sorts, but Sinn Fein, while all for informality, would prefer such bilaterals in more salubrious surroundings. In the light of the UUP's wish to see Sinn Fein expelled from the talks following the two murders early this week, and the RUC Chief Constable's conviction that the IRA was responsible, the likelihood of such contact grows increasingly problematic.

In any case there already is considerable engagement, insist UUP politicians, supported oddly enough by some SDLP delegates. "The media focus has been on the recent row between Ken Maginnis and Mo Mowlam, but real work is being done inside Castle Buildings, however slowly," said one SDLP politician.

Most of the politicians heading to Dublin Castle for next week's talks will be glad to see the back of Castle Buildings for a while. "It's grey in colour, and grey and downbeat in atmosphere. All the rooms are too square and cellular. It just does not lend itself to real or private exchanges," says Seamus Close, deputy leader of the Alliance Party.

And he adds with great feeling: "If we ever get around to crossing the Ts and dotting the Is of an agreement we have got to get the hell out of that place to give people a bit of space.".

Aside from the serious fallout over the two murders, the political focus this week was on the spat between the Northern Secretary, Dr Mowlam, and Ken Maginnis. According to Annie Campbell of the Women's Coalition, Mr Maginnis just exploded when he called Dr Mowlam "a damned liar". He subsequently said he "regretted the adjective but not the noun".

"His behaviour was very childish; it was a tantrum," said Ms Campbell, who accused unionists of consciously and disruptively joking and muttering to each other during meetings. She also said unionists had a tendency towards sexism, not only towards her party, but towards Dr Mowlam as well.

The Maginnis-Mowlam row was inevitable, say Ulster Unionist delegates. One UUP source said they had a stormy row after Christmas where Dr Mowlam gave as good as she got. "They just don't get on, and they won't get on," said the UUP source. It had nothing to do with sexism but with Dr Mowlam having a "loaded agenda" which essentially was anti-unionist, he added.

While the talks continue, Gerry Adams has been getting physically closer to David Trimble. The Strand One and Strand Two meetings have moved from the main conference room to a much smaller committee room. The parties sit around the table in alphabetical order, and Mr Adams is only four or five chairs from Mr Trimble. With the Ulster Democratic Party out of the talks, only the SDLP separates them.

THE UUP has been answering queries from Sinn Fein, but through the chair. "Mr Adams must need glasses if he says unionists are not fully engaging in the talks," said Mr Trimble. "There is a real ambience of engagement," added a talks colleague.

Another UUP delegate, speaking before the Chief Constable said he believed the IRA was responsible for the recent murders, suggested that if Sinn Fein indicated it would negotiate "in the real world" then the UUP might move from its hardline position on North-South bodies enunciated in London this week.

Unionists claim Sinn Fein is calculatedly building up a head of steam over Mr Trimble's refusal to engage in bilateral talks, so that if the IRA returns to full-scale violence "unionists will be blamed for not talking to Gerry Adams".

It's a view that is supported by some SDLP delegates. "What is there that Gerry Adams can't say to David Trimble around a fairly small table that he can only say in private?" asked one senior party figure.

"That's not the case," said a Sinn Fein source, as he pondered whether his party will be expelled from the talks next week. "These talks will only succeed if there is compromise and risk-taking. How can republicans take risks if unionists won't even talk to us directly?"