Senior Irish and British officials separately met Sinn Féin and the DUP in London yesterday as the two governments strive to achieve a political breakthrough that would see devolution restored before time runs out on a deal.
The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, and British Prime Minister Mr Tony Blair are due to meet in Brussels for an EU meeting towards the end of next week where they will assess what progress has been made since the Leeds Castle talks over a month ago.
Sinn Féin president Mr Gerry Adams and the party's chief negotiator met the Dublin and London officials in London yesterday while the DUP deputy leader, Mr Peter Robinson, was involved in separate discussions, it is understood.
The DUP still refuses to talk directly to Sinn Féin although the views of each party are mediated to each other through the two governments.
Mr Ahern has made it clear that if agreement is not reached in the coming weeks, the talks would be suspended and that it could be up to two years before there is another opportunity for reaching cross-party agreement that would see the Northern Executive and Assembly reactivated.
If it is apparent that there is little prospect of a breakthrough, Mr Ahern and Mr Blair may, on the periphery of the European Council of Ministers meeting on Friday week in Brussels, decide either to end the negotiations or allow a little more time for a deal.
Senior sources confirmed that progress was made since Leeds Castle but conceded that it was impossible to say whether agreement would be reached.
The main institutional difficulties remain: ministerial accountability, whether the election of the first and deputy first minister will continue to take place jointly, and policing.
The governments still believe that in the context of a full deal the IRA is prepared to end activity and decommission while Sinn Féin says the IRA is prepared to assist the peace and political processes in an "unprecedented and historical" manner.
The clarity of any decommissioning continues to be a difficulty. The DUP's Mr Robinson has said there must be a visual aspect to disarmament and Sinn Féin's Mr Mitchel McLaughlin has argued that this is designed to humiliate republicans.
However, the governments believe the fact that both parties are still negotiating indicates a willingness to sign off on a deal.
"Things are still moving in the right direction, but we still can't say whether there will be agreement. Still, people are still talking about how to reach agreement rather than whether there will be agreement, and that is important," said a senior London source.
A senior DUP source said that progress was made during intensive behind-the-scenes talks in recent weeks but that there is no closure on all the main issues.
He acknowledged that a deadline for a deal or unbreakable deadlock is fast approaching. "The longer this goes on the less likely the chance of cracking this," he said.
