For some time now, nationalists in particular have been urging the two governments to "take the talks process by the scruff of the neck". Well, yesterday that is exactly what they tried to do.

The concepts of parity of comfort and parity of pain were useful in understanding what Dublin and London were up to. The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Andrews, described the "Propositions on Heads of Agreement" as a "road map" for the parties.

He would have been more accurate in calling it a "middle-of-the-road map". The question for the parties on both sides was, if you followed this map, where would it lead you?

All eyes focused at once on the provision in the document dealing with cross-border relations. The stark terms "north/south body with executive powers" did not appear, nor were they likely to, since unionists and loyalists would immediately have to walk out of the process.

The question to be teased out was whether the provisions that were published amounted to the same thing as a north/south body with executive powers. Early leaks suggested that the key-word "executive" wasn't in the document; then we were told that it was, but in a particular context.

What the clever politicians, diplomats and civil servants from the two governments came up with in the end was: "A North/South Ministerial Council to bring together those with executive responsibilities in Northern Ireland and the Irish Government in particular areas."

This can be interpreted in different ways which, presumably, was the intention. Both unionists and nationalists can put their own "spin" on it, each with a fair amount of plausibility.

Nationalists can point out with satisfaction that, yes, the "E-word" is there. Unionists can counter with the fact that the new council will be accountable to the proposed assembly in Northern Ireland as well as the Oireachtas in Dublin and that all decisions will be by agreement between both sides.

The relationship between the new cross-border body and the proposed "British-Irish Council" representing the assemblies, present and future, in Dublin, London, Belfast, Cardiff and Edinburgh is not spelt out but an accompanying statement from the two governments said they would operate independently "in their designated areas of responsibility".

The position of Sinn Fein was coming under special scrutiny. Mr Gerry Adams appeared at Stormont but refused to take questions on the issues in the talks. He is in mourning for his niece's husband, Terence Enright, killed by loyalists at the weekend. The Sinn Fein president left early.

There had been weekend reports that republicans were deeply unhappy with the trend the negotiations were taking and felt the two governments had retreated from the Framework Document, which is seen as Sinn Fein's "bottom line".

When the party chairman, Mr Mitchel McLaughlin, came to face reporters he was circumspect and non-committal. But he was clearly putting down a marker when he said, in a prepared statement, that "any dilution by the two governments of the Framework Document would be, and would be seen to be, the result of unionist and loyalist pressure".

The prospect of a Northern Ireland Assembly is not one to gladden Sinn Fein hearts but there were words of possible comfort for the party elsewhere, e.g. in the references to the prisoners issue and "security in all its aspects".

Republicans may have been unusually reticent but the Ulster Unionists took an assertive stance. They referred, rather hopefully, to the council of regional assemblies as "a Council of the British Isles", adding that it was "clearly the first and most important element in these proposals".

According to the UUP, the crossborder relationship will be "within" - as distinct from under - that umbrella and will remain "firmly under the control of the Northern Ireland Assembly".

We were walking the fine line between interpretations and negotiating positions. The point stressed by representatives of both governments was that this document was intended to be a basis for negotiation and not a definitive, take-it-or-leave it proposal. Few would disagree with the unionists when they said that "the many ambiguities and gaps in the paper need to be explored".

The SDLP's Mr Seamus Mallon exuded satisfaction and seemed a different man from the tense negotiator of previous press conferences. In many ways this was the "Day of the Moderate" at Castle Buildings.

Talks insiders who observed the activity behind the scenes over the weekend admitted the document "had to be at times a bit vague, to keep people on board" but "the devil will be in the detail".

Dublin political sources took a different view of the North/South Council from the Ulster Unionists: "We see it as being a stand-alone body; we don't see it as in any way subservient to the British-Irish Council and it will be in charge of agencies with executive functions."

Irresistibly one was reminded yesterday of Mikhail Gorbachev when he sought to modernise Soviet society through the policies of perestroika and glasnost. Although what he ended up with was not what he set out to achieve, he had to do something because the status quo was no longer sustainable.