British prime minister Tony Blair maintained momentum in the Northern Ireland talks process yesterday, meeting the DUP in Downing Street amid moves to ease Sinn Féin concerns over the relationship between MI5 and the PSNI.
As his party put on a display of unity, DUP leader the Rev Ian Paisley maintained pressure on Sinn Féin - demanding "universal acceptance of policing" and a resolution of "the law and order issue" as a prior requirement for restored powersharing government at Stormont.
Party chairman Lord Morrow and chief whip Nigel Dodds formed a four-man delegation with Dr Paisley and his deputy Peter Robinson. And both Lord Morrow and Mr Dodds stressed the need for Sinn Féin "delivery" as Dr Paisley said the "authority of government" was required to finally resolve the policing issue.
The DUP leader said from his soundings across the communities there was a wave of opinion insisting "that the people of Northern Ireland deserve security", should have "the protection of the law" and "be allowed to live in peace".
To Downing Street's relief Dr Paisley resisted the opportunity to repeat the private predictions of some senior colleagues suggesting the March 26th deadline for devolution cannot be met.
Asked to explain his assertion that "time was of the essence", Dr Paisley observed that the government had set deadlines. Pressed as to whether that deadline could be met, he replied only that he did not know. Mr Robinson, however, insisted that the DUP would not be "driven by deadlines", again repeating "delivery" was what mattered and that republicans needed to sign up for policing "without delay and without conditions".
The possibility that Sinn Féin might hold an ardfheis to approve an interim or conditional position on the PSNI prompted one DUP source yesterday to speculate that the Assembly elections scheduled for early March would now proceed in any event.
However, there are increasingly strong indications that Mr Blair, with Taoiseach Bertie Ahern's support, would be prepared to cancel the elections without prior DUP/Sinn Féin agreement to form an Executive. While accepting that the pressure currently is on Sinn Féin to call an ardfheis, authoritative sources are also making it clear that both governments are equally committed to the indicative timetable set out in the St Andrews Agreement for the devolution of policing and justice powers by May 2008.
Meanwhile, there is speculation about the appointment of an independent assessor to monitor MI5 activities in the North as part of an attempt to reassure Sinn Féin that the security service will not be operating as "a force within a force" in its future relationship with the PSNI.