Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and British prime minister Tony Blair will tell the parties at Stormont on Thursday that they expect meaningful work to take place through the summer to create a real possibility of a devolution deal by November 24th, Dublin and London sources said yesterday.
They are expected to make clear to the DUP that if it fails to agree to share power with Sinn Féin following on from an expected positive Independent Monitoring report on IRA activity in early October, then the chance of achieving devolution could be put back by several years.
"Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern will make it clear that when they set November 24th as the deadline for a deal, they absolutely meant it.
"On Thursday they will set out what needs to be done between now and November 24th," said a London source.
Mr Ahern and Mr Blair will also reiterate that if there is no agreement by November, the Assembly will close and MLAs will lose their salaries and allowances.
They are also expected to provide a general outline of what Plan B will be in terms of continuing direct rule, but with a stronger North-South dimension.
Sources added that while the Assembly is due to go into recess for the summer shortly, Mr Ahern and Mr Blair will tell the parties they expect them to work through the summer to prepare the ground for a potential deal in November.
The Assembly programme for government committee, after weeks of almost farcical wrangling in forming the body, is now very slowly beginning to identify the obstacles to be overcome to restore devolution.
Mr Ahern and Mr Blair are expected to announce some similar type of framework on Thursday that would allow the parties engage in a constructive fashion during the summer months.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern and Northern Secretary Peter Hain are to meet at Hillsborough Castle this morning to carry out preliminary work in advance of Thursday's visit to Stormont by Mr Ahern and Mr Blair.
Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams said in Dublin on Saturday that he was initiating a party review process to determine whether the party should continue to be involved in the "Hain Assembly".
"We are more than willing to be involved in any genuine effort to restore the political institutions but we will not participate in a farce that is driving the political process into deeper crisis and making the public increasingly cynical.
"The review will begin next week and conclude at the end of the summer," he said.
DUP MP for North Belfast Nigel Dodds, however, accused Mr Hain of pandering to Sinn Féin.
"He criticises MLAs but rejects efforts to ensure debate and discussion on the Assembly floor.
"He pours money into the coffers of Sinn Féin/IRA at Westminster which they never attend whilst harping on about money to Assembly parties who do wish to attend the Assembly but are prevented by him," he said.
