The Taoiseach and the British Prime Minister will spearhead a major and intensive effort at Stormont today to find a formula for ending the impasse over decommissioning and the formation of an executive. President Clinton has offered his full support to the peace moves and he is expected to be in contact with the parties by telephone.
The negotiations will be coloured by yesterday's Parades Commission decision that the Portadown District of the Orange Order cannot march down the Garvaghy Road next Sunday. The ruling was made by the commission chairman, Mr Alistair Graham, at a press conference in a Belfast hotel. The announcement was interrupted by a bomb alert and Mr Graham finished reading it to reporters in the hotel car-park.
The commission's announcement was delayed to allow for any possibility of an accommodation as the Garvaghy residents and the Order engaged in indirect talks. They broke up after six hours however, and the decision to deny the parade access to the Garvaghy Road was given. The commission also imposed restrictions on the Orangemen's Long March.
The final push to meet tomorrow's talks deadline will be based on the three principles agreed with the parties last Friday when a strong verbal commitment to the principle of decommissioning from Sinn Fein was accompanied by an Ulster Unionist pledge that any new executive should be set up on an inclusive basis.
The events of the day will be dominated by the imminent report on decommissioning from General John de Chastelain, due to be delivered in the late afternoon.
There is likely to be considerable contact between the general and the two governments in advance of the reports. Gen de Chastelain is expected to set out practical procedures for decommissioning along with his assessment of the willingness of the paramilitaries to dispose of their weapons.
The governments and parties were seeking ways to provide the unionists with what Mr Blair has called a "cast-iron, fail-safe device" that decommissioning promises would be kept. Special legislation was among the ideas under consideration, although this would be opposed by Sinn Fein on the grounds that it was outside the terms of the Belfast Agreement.
The Belfast Agreement makes provision for sanctions against parties which fail to abide by their pledges of democracy and non-violence, and the Northern Secretary, Dr Mowlam has indicated this may be the means for allaying unionist concerns about the intentions of the republican movement.
Hopes that significant progress would be made yesterday failed to materialise because the two prime ministers spent most of their time in an unsuccessful last-ditch effort to resolve the Drumcree standoff. Round-table sessions scheduled to take place at Castle Buildings were postponed and finally called off.
President Clinton said there was a "good chance" the parties could reach agreement. Addressing unionist concerns on decommissioning, he pointed out that they could bring down the executive at any time if commitments weren't kept.
When asked if he was willing to give the same commitment to the current negotiations as he had last year, when he stayed up through the night and telephoned participants personally, the President replied: "Oh absolutely. I will do whatever I can to help."
Meanwhile, there was sharp Ulster Unionist reaction to reports that two remand prisoners in Portlaoise had been accepted onto the Provisional IRA section, which the UUP described as a "dramatic development".
This morning the UUP leadership is likely to call for a determination by Dr Mowlam as to whether the Provisional IRA and other ceasefires still held. The chief Sinn Fein negotiator, Mr Martin McGuinness said last night the IRA ceasefire was "rock solid".