The Government is unlikely to become involved in a threatened high-profile showdown next Friday over the operation of the North-South Ministerial Council. However, it is to begin talks this week designed to avert a breakdown of the political institutions.
Mr David Trimble's refusal to sanction the attendance of Sinn Fein Ministers at formal meetings with their Dublin counterparts is expected next Friday.
The North's Health Minister, Ms Bairbre de Brun, is due to meet the Minister for Health, Mr Martin, in Enniskillen that day. Should Mr Trimble refuse to sign the order approving Ms de Brun's attendance, there has been speculation that a meeting would go ahead anyway.
However, it appears clear that such a meeting would have no legal basis, and the Government is highly unlikely to consider allowing it to take place.
For such a meeting to go ahead, Mr Trimble would have to sanction both Ms de Brun's attendance, and that of a Minister from the Ulster Unionist Party. This is in accordance with the requirement that each such meeting is attended by the relevant Northern Minister and an Executive member from a political party representing the other community in Northern Ireland.
If no Ministers were sanctioned to attend, a meeting between Mr Martin and Ms de Brun would have no legal basis. Government sources say such a meeting would therefore only amount to a gesture that would further worsen tensions over Saturday's UUC decision.
Sources speculated yesterday that the meeting could be postponed in order to avoid an early crisis and to allow time to resolve the issue that threatens the stability of the Belfast Agreement.
There will be renewed pressure on the republican movement this week for an IRA re-engagement with the de Chastelain commission, as demanded by the UUP. Meanwhile, the Government will continue to press for the full implementation of the aspects of the Belfast Agreement important to nationalists.
This pressure will form part of a meeting in Dublin tomorrow or Wednesday between the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, and the Northern Secretary, Mr Peter Mandelson.
In its statement last week, the IRA put its refusal to resume discussions with Gen de Chastelain in the context of the non-implementation of the full content of the Patten report, the slow pace of the scaling down of the British military presence, and some civil rights and equality measures.
The latest UUC move threatens a return to the stalemate in the decommissioning/devolution trade-off that held up the process for months earlier this year, Government sources say.
While Mr Mandelson has said he wants the meeting to discuss the increased role for the decommissioning body sought by Mr Trimble, a spokesman for Mr Cowen said the Minister wanted to discuss "the implications of the outcome of Saturday's meeting and our concern about the operation of the North-South institutions".
Mr Cowen has already had a conversation on the matter with Mr Mandelson by telephone on Saturday, shortly after the UUC meeting in Belfast's Waterfront Hall ended. Mr Cowen said on Saturday he was "very concerned at the outcome, especially its implications for the operation of the North-South Ministerial Council".
Government sources acknowledge that the aspects of the Belfast Agreement about which the republican movement is concerned, particularly in the area of policing, are more limited in scope than before. However, they still include key issues such as the symbols to be used by the new force, the flying of flags and the powers of oversight and investigation of the new police force.
The republican movement has also complained about the slow pace of demilitarisation by the security forces. However, the British government argues that the continuing threat by dissident paramilitary groups makes it difficult to reduce the military presence.