While prospects for a breakthrough in the peace process at today's round of meetings in London were being played down by a Downing Street spokesman, there were reports of intense consultations last night between officials and party representatives in advance of this morning's formal talks.
However, Downing Street said: "This should be seen as a continuation of the process, not a culmination of it. The Prime Minister and the Taoiseach want to continue to work through different options that the parties have and to hear their views on the way through the current impasse.
"I don't think we are expecting a breakthrough, it's a staging-post, not the endgame. It is very difficult but we have got to find a way forward. We have come too far and there's too much at stake."
But the spokesman cautioned: "The Taoiseach and the Prime Minister can only do so much. It's the parties that have to reach an agreement."
He said Mr Ahern and Mr Blair had been in touch by telephone three times over the past seven days to discuss the current impasse.
"They are determined to crack this. Our position has been that we are basically happy with anything that all the parties are happy with. We have no preconceived, pre-cooked idea."
The day begins at 11.30 a.m. with a meeting between Mr Ahern and Mr Blair. This will be followed by hour-long sessions with Sinn Fein, the SDLP and the Ulster Unionists. There will also be a meeting with the Democratic Unionist Party, which was not represented during the last round of talks at Downing Street, but the Taoiseach is not expected to be present.
Half-an-hour has also been set aside for a briefing from the industrial mediator Mr Frank Blair, who has been involved in conciliation efforts at Drumcree. However, the Downing Street spokesman insisted there was no "linkage" between the Drumcree briefing and the other scheduled meetings. Political insiders have discounted weekend reports of a plan for a transitional executive and IRA decommissioning within six months.
However, it is understood one of the formulae under discussion in last night's preparatory consultations in London involved solemn verbal assurances of peaceful intent by the republican movement. "If they can say decommissioning is going to happen, then Trimble might have some room to manoeuvre," one source said. The consultations are expected to resume early this morning.
Careful note was being taken of comments made by Mr Martin McGuinness during his US visit this week, although reports that Mr McGuinness had said that Sinn Fein accepted decommissioning must be completed by May 2000 were strongly denied by Sinn Fein.
Joe Carroll in Washington adds:
Mr McGuinness emerged from a meeting in the White House saying he was "hopeful" that today's meetings in London would "remove the crisis" in the Belfast Agreement. But he said that he told advisers to President Clinton on Northern Ireland that "if the agreement is `parked', it is our view that when we come back after the summer, the agreement will not be there."
Asked if Sinn Fein would be ready to make a gesture today towards resolving the crisis, Mr McGuinness said that his answer was a "definite yes" as long as it was within the terms of the agreement. He said he was heartened that in spite of President Clinton's involvement in the Balkans, the administration was "still very focused on the situation."