The British Government is demanding closure at next week's Leeds Castle talks and threatening a return to direct rule if the DUP and Sinn Féin cannot agree the basis for a resumption of power-sharing devolution in Northern Ireland, writes Frank Millar London Editor.
After almost two hours of talks with the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, in his Sedgefield constituency yesterday, the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, said: "There comes a point when the final decisions have got to be made, and they've got to be made in a way that brings closure. That's where we are at now."
Mr Blair's warning is underlined by Northern Secretary Mr Paul Murphy in today's Irish Times in which he defines the British "Plan B" as provision for political failure and "an alternative based on direct rule" which neither side will like.
While Dublin could hardly be sanguine about a return to protracted direct rule, Irish sources last night confirmed the Taoiseach's agreement with Mr Blair that "this is it" and that next week's talks must reach "the point of decision".
While some senior Irish sources are known to doubt the Rev Ian Paisley's readiness to cut a deal, Mr Ahern spoke warmly of his dealings with the DUP leader since last January, which were "fruitful, open and very businesslike". He said: "We sincerely believe we can make an arrangement around the issues that are on the table with the DUP, and we will do all we can to do so."
Again displaying his impatience at the almost two-year gap since the suspension of Stormont and his Belfast speech demanding paramilitary "acts of completion", Mr Blair said: "Two years on the elements are still the same. It's apparent what has to happen. There has to be a complete and unequivocal end to violence. There has to be a willingness on that basis [by unionists\] to share power. The elements are clear.
"The question is - is the will clear? Do people really want to do it? And this is the chance. There's no point in us carrying on continually having these meetings unless that will exists. And we'll find out next week whether it really does."
Asked if an agreement next week might be played out over several months, possibly to the far side of Christmas, Mr Blair replied: "I hope we can get everything going as swiftly as possible if we can get the basic agreement, and it's the basic agreement that matters.
"Everybody now believes the only basis on which power can be shared in a way that is fair is if violence is given up completely, and there's no ambiguity about it, no ambivalence, no thinking 'well, a little bit doesn't matter'. It's got to stop." Senior Whitehall sources stressed later that Mr Blair's demand that there be "no ambiguity, no ambivalence and so on" applied equally to the DUP.