The British government will this morning publish emergency legislation to give effect to the St Andrews Agreement and to call a fresh Assembly election for Wednesday, March 7th.
Negotiations were continuing last night after last-minute consultations with delegations from the DUP and Sinn Féin and British officials in London on outstanding issues. The Irish Times understands from reliable sources that the Assembly will be recalled on November 24th in keeping with the British and Irish governments' timetable.
However, it is expected that the Rev Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness will be nominated respectively as First Minister and Deputy First Minister, but under a new method. The joint nature of the office is understood to have been changed and Assembly members will not be required to approve the two office holders in a single vote.
SDLP sources claimed last night this would effectively end the symbolic partnership designed in the Belfast Agreement and subsequent legislation. However, parties, should they not vote for the new pairing, will not to be liable to exclusion from the Executive as had been suggested.
The bill envisages the Assembly will continue in a "transitional" form until the election in March when all 108 seats will be contested. This has been a key DUP demand, but will dismay nationalists who favoured a referendum which they claimed would provide a clearer mandate for the new arrangements.
The last-minute nature of the negotiations meant a series of briefings on the forthcoming legislation involving the SDLP, Ulster Unionists and Alliance Party was cancelled at short notice yesterday. This prompted UUP leader Sir Reg Empey to accuse the leading unionist and nationalist parties of failing to "nail down properly" all outstanding issues preventing a deal to restore devolution.
"It appears that we have attempts to negotiate a St Andrews Agreement mark two to compensate for the failures of St Andrews mark one," he said.
Well-placed British sources repeatedly played down the difficulties despite reliable indications from Westminster that the finalising of the bill had hit last-minute difficulties with the parties.
"The bill is still on target," The Irish Times was told. "There are practical issues and officials are still at work. Timing was always going to be tight." Speaking in the House of Commons yesterday, Mr Paisley again warned that Sinn Féin acceptance of the institutions of law and order was a pre-requisite for a deal.
"I am simply saying to this house that I trust everybody here will be at the debates that take place and that this house will say [ to Sinn Féin] 'right, if you obey the law and support the crown forces, if you support the police you can be in government."