The Northern Secretary is to announce a form of peace and reconciliation commission shortly after Easter. British sources have told The Irish Times that Mr Paul Murphy will invite opinion on the initiative from victims' relatives and representatives, the parties and other organisations.
The announcement is expected within three weeks, most likely just after the delayed report on paramilitary activity by the Independent Monitoring Com- mission (IMC) now expected on Monday, April 19th. One well-placed source warned the search for consensus over the structure and format of any commission would be demanding. The ensuing conciliation process would also be "difficult".
Both the British Prime minister, Mr Tony Blair, and the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, are due in Northern Ireland to intensify their efforts to break the political stalemate surrounding suspension of the Stormont institutions around that time.
Such an initiative has already received backing from the Chief Constable, Mr Hugh Orde, and the chairman of the North's Policing Board, Prof Desmond Rea.
Mr Orde said yesterday: "I think far more people are now realising that without some thoughtful process to deal with history Northern Ireland will find it very difficult to move on."
The move to establish some form of reconciliation commission was signalled last week by the Prime Minister, aware of the attention given to a small number of highly contentious cases at a time when some 1,800 murders remain unsolved and largely forgotten.
Mr Blair's decision coincided with the eventual publication of the Cory reports into four contentious murders and the recommendation of the immediate establishment of three independent inquiries.
A fourth inquiry, into the murder of solicitor Mr Pat Finucane, is delayed pending the ongoing Stevens inquiry into collusion and the trial of Ken Barrett who is charged with shooting Mr Finucane.
Nearly 10 pages of the Cory report into the Finucane case, including the version given to the Irish Government, were censored, an Irish official has confirmed. Barrett, a Shankill loyalist, was transferred from Maghaberry prison in Co Antrim last week to an English jail as the Cory reports were published. But British sources say his move was at his own request and unrelated to Cory.
Mr Ahern and Mr Blair, following their recent round of consultation with the parties at Hillsborough, set a target date of June 10th for dealing with all difficulties blocking full implementation of the Belfast Agreement.
However, the delayed IMC report on the alleged Tohill abduction last February and the fallout over Finucane, including the uproar over remarks by the Ulster Unionist leader concerning Mrs Rosemary Nelson's and Mr Finucane's alleged "terrorist connections" are adding to tension precisely when the governments hoped for calm.
Mr Trimble said he stands by his comments, saying that the "offence" was "unavoidable".
He has been severely criticised by the Nelson and Finucane families, nationalist politicians, Mr Param Cumaraswamy, a former senior UN representative, as well as human rights activists.
The chief executive of the Law Society of Northern Ireland, Mr John Bailie, said there were real concerns among lawyers following Mr Trimble's remarks, while Mr Pearse McDermott, chairman of the Criminal Bar Association in the North accused Mr Trimble of "putting certain solicitors' lives at risk".
A US State Department official intensified pressure on the British government yesterday after he said Washington was concerned about plans to delay an inquiry into Mr Finucane's murder until all criminal prosecutions had been completed.
He said it was his department's view that prosecutions should be conducted as "quickly as possible".