Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and British prime minister Tony Blair, who meet at Chequers outside London this morning, still believe there is a reasonable chance of a devolution deal by the November 24th deadline, despite Rev Ian Paisley's statement that agreement is not possible by then, according to senior sources.
Mr Ahern will hear from Mr Blair at his official private residence this morning his assessment of whether the DUP leader might share power with Sinn Féin, based on the prime minister's meeting with Dr Paisley at Downing Street on Wednesday evening.
"It is still to play for," said one well-placed source yesterday evening, notwithstanding Dr Paisley's comment after the Blair meeting that he did "not think" a deal was possible by the November target date.
Dr Paisley and other senior DUP figures in recent days have insisted they will not be pressurised into signing off on a deal by November 24th.
Equally, they say, progress can be made at the intensive party talks with the two leaders in Scotland in October, which come after what is expected to be a crucial and positive Independent Monitoring Commission report on IRA activity. At the British-Irish Association conference in Oxford last weekend, Northern Secretary Peter Hain warned that it could take until after the British general election in 2009 for the next opportunity to strike agreement between the DUP and Sinn Féin.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern, in Derry for last night's Uefa Cup tie between Derry City and Paris St Germain at the Brandywell stadium, suggested the 2009 date was even being optimistic if the deadline was lost.
"My own assessment is that it could be even longer," said Mr Ahern. "Failure to make political agreement on restoration will have stark implications. It will confine the parties to the margins of policy making - to a kind of virtual politics," he added.
Conversely, there is also a governmental concern - and this has been argued by some in the DUP - that Dr Paisley may decide it would be more advantageous to stall to the Westminster general election so that the DUP might exert greater influence in a potential hung British parliament.
One senior source acknowledged this possibility but added: "It only suits Ian Paisley if he doesn't want to be around to make the deal. "He is aware that this could be his last chance to make such a decision." He said Dr Paisley was realising that in terms of the Irish general election due in the spring and the political situation in Britain "the current window of opportunity isn't going to be around for some time".
"I think he is coming to terms with the fact that he is going to have to make a decision.
"He is coming under pressure and he knows that that pressure is not going to go away," the source added. This morning Mr Ahern and Mr Blair will plan for the "hothouse" talks with the Northern parties scheduled for St Andrews in Scotland in the second week of October, and discuss Plan B - how to proceed if the parties can't agree a deal.
