The British and Irish governments are holding off on publishing "take it or leave it proposals" on how to restore devolution, in the hope that behind-the-scenes negotiations could yet break the political stalemate.
There was an expectation that the two governments this week would publish their "best read" proposals on how to bridge the divide between the DUP and the pro-Belfast Agreement parties on how to end the logjam, which mainly centres on the issue of ministerial accountability.
Senior British and Irish sources, however, said yesterday that it was very unlikely that such a document would appear this week as the governments believed there was a reasonable possibility that a formula could be devised to break the deadlock.
"We are narrowing the differences between the two sides, but we are not there yet," a leading British source said yesterday.
Sinn Féin president Mr Gerry Adams is leading a senior Sinn Féin delegation in talks with the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, in Dublin this morning. He made clear again at the weekend that his party would not tolerate any alterations to the fundamental cross-community consensus philosophy of the agreement.
The SDLP is equally trenchant in insisting it will not accept any changes to the agreement, and the Ulster Unionist Party generally supports this position.
The DUP, however, is demanding a number of changes to the agreement. Chiefly it is seeking to make ministers in the Northern executive more accountable to the executive as a whole, and to the Northern Assembly.
Nationalists contend that this really is a device to restrict Sinn Féin and SDLP ministers and also to shackle the North-South element of the Belfast Agreement.
It is now over two weeks since the Leeds Castle negotiations where, the governments say, clear commitments were received from the IRA to disarm and end activity.
Mr Adams added to this view when he said yesterday that in the context of a comprehensive deal, there was a general acceptance that the IRA was prepared to make an unprecedented and historic contribution to the peace process.
Despite the expectation of major IRA movement, the impression since Leeds Castle is that the potential for a historic deal has become bogged down over what effectively are procedural matters. Some senior Ulster Unionists are claiming that the DUP concerns about ministerial accountability are a "smokescreen" to allow the Rev Ian Paisley and his deputy, Mr Peter Robinson, to delay sharing power with Sinn Féin until after the Westminster election, expected in the spring or early summer of next year.
The DUP rejects this argument and insists its concerns about accountability are genuine.
The senior British government source also inclined to the view that the DUP would enter government with Sinn Féin before an election if it felt it had the right deal. "I don't think the process is stuck in a rut. It is still moving in the right direction," he said.
The source added that the differences between the DUP and the other parties were narrowing, and while serious behind-the-scenes talks involving British and Irish politicians and officials and the parties were continuing, there would be no point in publishing a "take it or leave it" document.
It was still a serious option for the governments but was unlikely this week. Ultimately if a deal could not be done the governments may feel compelled to publish such a paper in the coming weeks, he conceded.
