The first meeting between Sinn Fein and the head of a British government since the Treaty negotiations over 70 years ago will take place at Stormont today. The British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, will have a 10-minute discussion behind closed doors at the multi-party talks with a delegation led by Mr Gerry Adams and Mr Martin McGuinness.
Mr Blair will hold similar 10minute meetings with the other delegations. He will also visit several other parts of Northern Ireland in the course of his one-day visit, although details were being withheld for security reasons.
Official sources said that cameras would not be allowed to record the encounter between the Sinn Fein delegation and Mr Blair. The fact that the meeting is being held in private lessens its value and impact for republicans, but the British government is clearly intent on keeping unionist criticism to a minimum.
The Prime Minister has already been accused by Mr Sammy Wilson of the Democratic Unionist Party of "sending the signal that no matter how terrorists act they will not be placed beyond the pale of democratic acceptance".
However, the Liberal Democrat leader, Mr Paddy Ashdown, said that it would be right for the Prime Minister to shake hands with the Sinn Fein president "if Mr Blair concludes that Mr Adams is permanently and irrevocably embarked on the democratic path".
Mr Blair was criticised by the Conservative Party's Northern Ireland spokesman, Mr Andrew Mackay, who said: "President Clinton shook hands with Adams in Belfast and shortly afterwards that ceasefire ended with the bombing of London's Dock lands".
London has made what is seen as a further concession to unionists by expanding the remit of the Parades Commission to allow the possibility of curbs on the expression of nationalist cultural identity. As reported in The Irish Times last July, the proposal emerged in the course of discussions over the Drumcree Orange parade. Although greeted with scepticism and disbelief by nationalists, the proposal was seriously advanced in an attempt to persuade loyalists to call off the Drumcree march.
The idea is said to have been incorporated into the Bill giving the Parades Commission the power to re-route marches. It is understood that the Irish Government argued against the move.
The legislation is due to be published shortly. However, political sources said that the provision for curbs on other expressions of cultural identity besides marches gave the commission considerable discretion and room to manoeuvre in what could prove to be an invidious position.
There have been suggestions that nationalist flags along Portadown's Garvaghy Road would have to be removed under the new legislation, but there could also be restrictions on loyalists flying Union flags and painting their kerbstones red, white and blue, a common practice in parts of the North.
If, as expected, Mr Blair takes questions from the media today, he is likely to be asked about the British government's intentions over Bloody Sunday. Senior political sources have indicated that London is likely to offer an apology for the Derry shootings, but not to reopen the inquiry.
Mr Blair's visit will give a boost to the talks process at a crucial early stage. Sources close to the talks said that the chairman, Senator George Mitchell, had "upped the tempo" of the proceeding by asking all the parties for papers on the topics under discussion.
The Ulster Democratic Party organised a rally of about 5,000 loyalists in Belfast city-centre yesterday to mark the third anniversary of the loyalist ceasefire. Also yesterday, two members of the RUC were injured during scuffles with loyalists who were demonstrating against a nationalist commemoration parade in Co Fermanagh.