On Monday morning representatives of the 10 parties and two governments involved in the talks, as well as the independent chairmen, will move into offices in Dublin Castle to prepare for three days of discussions there.
Each party will have its own room. The building was used to provide offices for each of the 15 EU member-states during the Dublin summit in December 1996 and so is well equipped to deal with a similar number of talks participants.
Monday's talks begin formally at 11 a.m. in the Dublin Castle conference centre. It is intended that all that day and Tuesday will be spent discussing Strand Two, North-South relations.
Argument over Sinn Fein's continued participation in the process is, however, certain to disrupt the timetable completely.
After just 90 minutes there will be a two-hour break for lunch in Castle Hall. Officials stressed yesterday, however, that work will continue over lunch.
The talks finish for the day at 5 p.m., when the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, is due to meet party leaders and delegates in the State Apartments. From six to 7.30 p.m. he will host a reception for the delegates in St Patrick's Hall before they depart for the Phoenix Park residence of the US ambassador, Mrs Jean Kennedy Smith, for an 8 p.m. buffet dinner.
Mr Gerry Adams, Mr Martin McGuinness and Ms Bairbre de Brun of Sinn Fein will skip the buffet dinner to speak at a public meeting in Liberty Hall on the peace process. The party's candidates for the forthcoming by-elections will also attend.
On Tuesday the delegates have a slightly longer day, starting at 10 a.m. and going through until late afternoon with a lunch break. Tuesday's buffet dinner will be at 6.30 p.m. in St Patrick's Hall, hosted by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Andrews.
On Wednesday the talks may move on to consider Strand Three issues, but that would only be in the unlikely event of their having completed the programme for work in Strand Two. Discussions will continue until 5 p.m.
