There was speculation yesterday that Mr Tony Blair may fly to Belfast today as part of a concerted British/Irish/American push to break the deadlock in the peace process.
Senior American officials were locked in ongoing talks with British and Irish officials in London last night, with a decision on a visit to Belfast by the Prime Minister apparently awaiting their conclusion.
British sources said a final decision might not be taken until this morning. And they and Irish sources stressed that Mr Blair's arrival in Belfast would not signal imminent agreement, but rather an attempt to "kick start" an intensive negotiation between the parties.
Irish Government sources continued to play-down the possibility of a "once and for all agreement" resolving the outstanding and inter-related issues of decommissioning and demilitarisation, policing and the Ulster Unionist ban on Sinn Fein participation in meetings of the North-South Ministerial Council (NSMC).
Last night the SDLP Deputy First Minister, Mr Seamus Mallon, and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, had talks in Dublin on how the Unionist Party veto could be lifted.
British and Irish officials hope significant progress can be made this week ahead of a meeting of the British-Irish Council in Dublin on Tuesday, which will be attended by the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, and by Mr Blair.
A talks insider said the officials had been working "hammer and tongs over the past 10 days" to end the logjam. The involvement of President Clinton's security adviser, Mr Jim Steinberg, in the talks in London yesterday was viewed as significant.
Mr Blair's spokesman said Mr Steinberg had been "around for a few days" and that Mr Blair had also spoken to Mr Ahern and other "key players".
The London talks were "in the context, in part, of President Clinton maintaining an interest right up to the end of his presidency", Mr Blair's spokesman said. P}Most focus is on lifting the NSMC ban, and on prompting the IRA to re-establish contact with the decommissioning body.
Meanwhile, the RUC Chief Constable, Sir Ronnie Flanagan, urged all political parties to support the proposed police reform. "It can't work as effectively as it should without partnership and if political parties withhold that support, withhold that partnership, then of course there is a significantly deleterious effect on what we can do," he said.
"We must all work together and I'm certainly doing my best to see that political representatives, community representatives and communities from all directions work in partnership with us. They have a responsibility so to do. It's not all the responsibility of police," he told BBC Radio Ulster.
He also said the RUC was using "covert" as well as overt police operations to try to tackle the rising incidence of attacks on Catholic families in Larne. Sir Ronnie said members of the UDA were involved, although he could not say if it was centrally involved.