The review of the Belfast Agreement kicks off this afternoon with the DUP later this week expected to propose an interim Stormont administration involving Sinn Féin that could be established ahead of the IRA ending all paramilitary activity.
One of the models for government that the DUP leader, the Rev Ian Paisley, will present to the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, in London on Thursday could involve Sinn Féin exercising some power and responsibility before the IRA ceased activity, said one senior DUP source last night.
Details of the DUP's proposals will not be published until Friday morning in Belfast, but the same source said they took account of the fact that Sinn Féin was one of the four main parties in the Assembly and could not be ignored.
Dr Paisley and the Sinn Féin president, Mr Gerry Adams, will join the other parties elected to the second Assembly for a plenary session of the review at Parliament Buildings, Stormont, this afternoon. Ulster Unionist Party defector Mr Jeffrey Donaldson is expected to be one of the DUP's negotiators today.
Thereafter, however, the DUP asserts that it will have no direct contact with Sinn Féin, although its views and proposals will be conveyed to Sinn Féin by the British and Irish governments.
Today's plenary meeting will be chaired by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, and the Northern Secretary, Mr Paul Murphy. The governments will assess progress at Easter.
In present circumstances the DUP would not agree to form an executive which involved Sinn Féin. But, said a senior source, pending the IRA ending paramilitary actions, the DUP's proposals allowed for some form of administration that included Sinn Féin. However, it fell short of an executive operating a cabinet system of collective responsibility.
"If the IRA don't wind up and pack up as a paramilitary organisation, then we will not be in any executive with them," he said.
The DUP is seeking radical reform of the Belfast Agreement, including a reduction in the number of MLAs, currently at 108, greater accountability for North/South bodies, a stronger link between Belfast and London and alterations to police reform, including an end to 50:50 Catholic/Protestant recruitment.
DUP sources remain guarded about the proposals, but one hinted that they would involve putting the focus on the whole Assembly to operate devolution rather than leaving it to a first and deputy first minister and 10 ministers. The DUP maintains that before it would share power in an executive with Sinn Féin the IRA must carry out the "acts of completion" required over a year ago by Mr Blair. These include decommissioning and an end to all activity, including "punishment" attacks, exiling, smuggling weapons, spying and targeting.
The DUP may also seek a weighted majority system of voting in any new Assembly-led system of devolution to replace the current system, which requires cross-community support for key decisions.
The two governments, Sinn Féin, the SDLP, the Ulster Unionist Party and other parties are reserving their positions until they see full details of the DUP's proposals on Friday. While there are suspicions that the DUP realises the proposals could not be worn by either Sinn Féin or the SDLP, senior figures in the party insist that their ideas are reasonable and workable.
DUP figures point out that in this review each party is entitled to put forward its particular blueprint for progress and that thereafter it is up to the parties, through negotiation and with the assistance of the governments, to arrive at a form of compromise.
