Taoiseach Bertie Ahern met British prime minister Tony Blair in Downing Street last night to review progress in the ongoing effort to implement the St Andrews Agreement and restore devolved government to Northern Ireland.
However, tensions in the peace process had to compete on this occasion with stresses in the Number 10 kitchen, as the three finalists for a new series of the BBC's Master Chefprogramme prepared a course each for the two leaders.
Mr Blair immediately chose Mr Ahern as his dinner guest when he agreed to host the filming of the programme due for transmission next year.
The Taoiseach had signalled his intention to raise the continuing controversy about alleged British security force collusion in attacks in the Republic during their prior one-to-one meeting, while Mr Blair updated Mr Ahern on his meeting last Friday with Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams.
Mr Ahern confirmed yesterday that the two governments have not yet resolved the standoff between the declared Sinn Féin and DUP positions on the question of the modality for a new policing and justice ministry at Stormont and a timetable for the devolution of those powers.
However, senior British sources indicated some optimism that a solution can be found in time to permit Mr Adams to call a Sinn Féin ardfheis to resolve the policing issue ahead of Northern Ireland Assembly elections scheduled for March. At the same time the Taoiseach again said he was confident that Sinn Féin's difficulties about the role of the British security service, MI5, and its relationship with the PSNI could be resolved.
He was speaking after a reception held in his honour by the mayor of Kensington and Chelsea, Tim Ahern, whose family come from Cork and whose daughter Roberta - known as "Bertie" to her friends - is his mayoress.