The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, has declared that Sinn Fein, rather than the First Minister, Mr David Trimble, has more room for compromise on the arms decommissioning deadlock.
After he and the British Prime Minister, Mr Blair, discussed the impasse again by telephone yesterday, Mr Ahern asserted that Mr Trimble faced serious "limitations" over decommissioning.
The IRA's pronouncements that it would not decommission were making the situation "very difficult for David Trimble," the Taoiseach told the Dail.
His practical problems could not be ignored and, while decommissioning was not a precondition to the establishment of the executive and the North-South ministerial council, the reality was that "we must make some progress on this issue," the Taoiseach said.
As the October 31st deadline for setting up the new bodies increases urgency in the search for a compromise, the Taoiseach and Prime Minister will hold further discussions this weekend at an EU summit in Austria.
Mr Blair briefed Mr Ahern for 10 minutes yesterday on his meetings the previous day with Sinn Fein's chief negotiator, Mr Martin McGuinness, and with Mr Trimble. Both men gave precisely the same message to the Prime Minister that they had imparted to the Taoiseach - they could not compromise.
Under the agreement Sinn Fein was asked to do all it could within two years to ensure decommissioning occurred, said Mr Ahern. It was not meant to be a precondition to Sinn Fein's joining the executive.
However, Mr Trimble, as UUP leader and as First Minister designate, had made a commitment to his colleagues to achieve the beginning of a process of decommissioning before he agreed to move on the executive.
"This is a major problem for him. The agreement was sold on the basis of various pronouncements, and 71 per cent of people voted in favour of it."
Sometimes a jump might be useful, rather than taking small steps. "In this case, at least one jump might be very useful," Mr Ahern said.