The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, and British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, have outlined to the Democratic Unionist Party what form of statement the IRA might issue to help persuade the DUP that it would decommission and end activity, according to informed sources.
Mr Ahern and Mr Blair spent much of yesterday at Leeds Castle locked in separate discussions with Sinn Féin and the DUP attempting to resolve the pivotal issue of whether the IRA would disarm and effectively stand down.
As the negotiations ran late into the night at Leeds Castle, reliable sources said they could not determine whether a deal would be brokered. The mood was described as nervous and edgy. "It could go either way," said one talks insider.
There was general acceptance at Leeds Castle that a convincing statement from the IRA about its peaceful intentions could be the catalyst that would allow agreement, or an acceptable compromise at least, to be found on other key issues such as unionists' willingness to share power with republicans and, more problematically, policing.
But the fact that Mr Ahern and Mr Blair were able to delineate to the DUP what the IRA might deliver in the context of a comprehensive deal, illustrated just how serious were the negotiations last night.
The Sinn Féin MP, Mr Pat Doherty, said he was unaware of "any form of words from the IRA" although other well-placed sources confirmed to The Irish Times that Mr Ahern and Mr Blair had sketched out for the DUP what the IRA might say to build unionist confidence. It is understood that Mr Ahern and Mr Blair based this knowledge on their contact with Sinn Féin leaders, and what their officials gleaned during intensive pre-Leeds Castle talks with republicans. The sources stressed that the British and Irish leaders did not have any IRA statement "down on paper".
The DUP deputy leader, Mr Peter Robinson, gave a general press conference earlier yesterday where he made no mention of a potential IRA statement.
But he later told Downtown Radio's Eamon Mallie that he now had an understanding from the two leaders of how the IRA would respond to a deal.
"We hear from the governments what they believe the position of republicans to be. We obviously have to make an assessment of whether that is being oversold to us, whether there is an accurate assessment, and ultimately our decisions will have to be taken when we see it in cold print," he said.
"The DUP will not be gulled into signing up from a hint and a wink or a nod from the government. We will require something much more tangible than that," added Mr Robinson.
He also gave the most positive reading, from a unionist perspective, of the negotiations so far, insisting that more bankable progress was made yesterday than ever achieved by Ulster Unionist leader Mr David Trimble. "If we walked away from the table now we would be doing much better than that," he said.
In return for a persuasive IRA statement the DUP would be required to make a firm commitment that, if the statement was followed up by action, it would share power with Sinn Féin, the sources said. The governments were also seeking a commitment that the DUP would at last speak directly to Sinn Féin.
The talks continued late last night, and are due to resume at 7.30 a.m. today. All sides said that there were still considerable gaps to be bridged on issues such as policing, power-sharing and ministerial accountability.
