Sinn Féin has reported "considerable progress" in talks with Irish and British government officials about policing and justice which are central to the restoration of powersharing at Stormont.
Chief negotiator Martin McGuinness said both Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and prime minister Tony Blair were involved in discussions which have continued over the Christmas break.
A brief statement from Mr McGuinness last night sounded a distinctly positive and optimistic tone about the discussions centring on the PSNI - which republicans have yet to endorse - and the devolution of justice powers, a key Sinn Féin demand.
The issues have dogged the political process since the two governments and parties met at St Andrews in Scotland in October. Despite this, and the difficulties which supporting the PSNI and sharing power with republicans pose for Sinn Féin and the DUP respectively, Mr McGuinness sounded distinctly upbeat last night.
"We have made considerable progress over the Christmas period and have been working with both the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and British prime minister Tony Blair, including contact once again this afternoon," he said. "This work will continue in the coming days to try and ensure that agreement can be made with the DUP to get the powersharing institutions back up and running as quickly as possible.
"The Sinn Féin leadership has continued to work at this over Christmas because we want to see the new year mark a new beginning in the relationship between our party and the DUP. We want to work in partnership with them in a powersharing government to address the problems facing people across society."
The British and Irish governments are pushing for agreement between the leading nationalist and unionist parties to be concluded as early as possible.
Under a tight timetable, outlined by Mr Ahern and Mr Blair at St Andrews, the Stormont Assembly will be dissolved by the end of January and fresh elections called for March 7th.
However, it is improbable that this would be done in the absence of an outline agreement between the Rev Ian Paisley's party and republicans on the central concerns of backing the PSNI and agreement to have justice powers devolved at some stage after a powersharing Executive is formed at Stormont.
The Government in Dublin confirmed last night that talks had resumed yesterday. Asked if Mr McGuinness's statement reflected Mr Ahern's view of the talks, a spokesman said: "The Taoiseach is anxious to see the issue of policing resolved as quickly as possible. The Government is hopeful outstanding issues will be resolved quickly to ensure that the St Andrews timetable remains on track."