The November 24th deadline for restoring devolution in the North will be defined in legislation before Westminster after Easter to allow the Assembly return in mid-May, according to the British government.
As Taoiseach Bertie Ahern again called on Northern Ireland politicians to seize the current opportunity to make politics work in the North, British officials are preparing legislation to enable the reinstatement of the Assembly on May 15th.
A Northern Ireland Office (NIO) spokesman said yesterday that details on how the Assembly would operate on that date, or who would act as first (and possibly temporary) presiding officer, have yet to be finalised.
The carrot-and-stick element is that while the Assembly will return on May 15th, if the politicians can't agree by November 24th, then the Assembly will be dissolved and a greater role for Dublin in the affairs of Northern Ireland will be created.
Sinn Féin and the SDLP have expressed concerns that the November 24th deadline could be extended indefinitely to suit the wish of unionists for a gradual, staged return of devolution. The NIO spokesman said it would be stated "by statute" in the legislation that November 24th is the deadline for a deal.
Meanwhile, at the Irish Management Institute conference in Druids Glen, Co Wicklow, Mr Ahern suggested there wasn't a politician in the world who wouldn't accept the prospect of power in the North as offered by the Irish and British governments in their proposals on Thursday.
He had "nothing really" to say about DUP deputy leader Peter Robinson's comment that at the current rate of progress the November plan would not work. He said the two governments would simply go ahead without the northern parties if they did not form a government before the deadline.
"We've laid out our plans. And I think all the parties should put all their energies into implementing the plans. Nobody has threatened anyone. The only thing that we're saying is that it's about time the politicians in Northern Ireland got on with their job," said the Taoiseach.
"I mean they're marginalised anyway. I mean the fact is politicians in Northern Ireland have little say in what's going on. They're there, they're working, they're paid, but they're not in the mainstream. They're just marginalised people, their views are not taken much into account by the NIO, the British government," added Mr Ahern.
He went on: "We're giving the opportunity to take full charge of the Assembly, full charge of the Executive. Some of them will be ministers. They will be running the whole shop. There's not a politician in the world would turn down that offer."