Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and prime minister Tony Blair meet at the Brussels summit tomorrow to finalise a new plan to have the full Northern Assembly meet for a set period, after which it would be required to agree on a power-sharing executive.
The Taoiseach indicated yesterday that he wanted this time-limited Assembly to be "fully operational", rather than being set up in a "shadow" form as has been proposed by the DUP.
The new arrangement would be designed to press the DUP and Sinn Féin into agreeing a mechanism for power-sharing as quickly as possible.
According to Downing Street, talks about recalling the Assembly for a set period will take "centre stage" when Mr Blair and Mr Ahern meet in Brussels. If the Brussels discussions are successful, it is anticipated the two leaders will travel to Northern Ireland, possibly on April 6th, to outline plans to end suspension of the Assembly.
Sources in Dublin, London and Belfast yesterday stressed the fluid nature of preparations for any announcement. The governments are striving to devise a mechanism that would reconcile the DUP demand to create a working Assembly before full restoration of the executive - with a Sinn Féin insistence that any development be compliant with the Belfast Agreement.
The two governments could also make clear what will happen in the event of no agreement on power- sharing between Sinn Féin and the DUP after the six-week period stipulated under the d'Hondt mechanism.
Sinn Féin warned again yesterday that any plan hatched by the two governments would have to be compliant with the Belfast Agreement.
It is understood London is prepared to use "all the time available" between now and any visit by Mr Blair to Northern Ireland to finalise the proposals. Discussions were expected "to go right up to the wire".
Under the Belfast Agreement, the Assembly can meet for six weeks before the d'Hondt mechanism to elect an executive is required to produce a resolution. The two governments appear to be seeking some device to prolong the period for success beyond this, but it is not clear how they intend to do this.
Mr Ahern told the Dáil yesterday: "A fixed period must be set, as there would be no point in trying to set up an ineffective shadow executive that would just go on and on. Agreement to do so would not be reached and neither the British nor the Irish governments wish to do it."
Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams warned the governments to stand by the Belfast Agreement. "I'm not impressed by what has been said [ by the Taoiseach]. We want to see delivery," Mr Adams said.