A DECISION will have to be made today on whether an Anglo Irish summit meeting can be held in London tomorrow before the Taoiseach and the British Prime Minister are due to leave for an Association of South East Asian Nations conference.
Irish and British officials met until late last night in London to try to resolve the remaining difficulties in the way of agreement on a communique for the summit. A Government spokesman said any agreement would have to involve a "time locked" schedule leading to all party talks.
The fact that the officials met was seen as a positive sign, but there was recognition in Dublin that Mr Major has had to give much of his attention to the debate on the Scott report in the House of Commons.
Mr Bruton has not yet decided "definitively" if he will attend the ASEAN meeting in Bangkok which begins on Thursday. If he does, he will have to fly out some time tomorrow.
If a communique can be agreed in advance, it would be possible to hold the Anglo Irish summit tomorrow morning. The summit would be essentially a press conference to publish the communique as was the case with the previous summit last November 28th to launch the twin track process.
If it does not prove possible to hold the summit tomorrow, there could be an opportunity for Mr Bruton and Mr Major to meet informally during the ASEAN conference of heads of government.
Mr Bruton will be asked in the Dail today by the Fianna Fail leader, Mr Bertie Ahern, to confirm "from his knowledge and from briefing received that there was no secret deal, understanding or quid pro quo agreement between the Irish Government and Sinn Fein in August 1994" before the IRA ceasefire.
It was claimed two weeks ago in an interview with a member of the IRA general staff in An Phoblacht that Mr Bruton had been briefed by the outgoing Fianna Fail led government that all party talks were to be the quid pro quo for the IRA ceasefire.
Mr Bruton has already denied this in the Dail, and both Mr Ahern and the former Taoiseach, Mr Albert Reynolds, have denied there was any deal done with Sinn Fein, so it is not clear why Fianna Fail want to revive the matter.
Mr Bruton will also face a series of questions from Mr Ahern and the Progressive Democrats' leader, Ms Mary Harney, about his recent discussions with President Clinton and Mr Major by phone and with Senator George Mitchell during his visit to Dublin last week.
Mr Ahern has also asked Mr Bruton how many joint statements he issued with the Sinn Fein president, Mr Gerry Adams, since taking office, and if he considered at the time that Mr Adams was "giving commitments on behalf of the republican movement as a whole".
Ms Harney is asking Mr Bruton if the Government and the SDLP have a common position in relation to an elective process in Northern Ireland.