Further talks between the British government and the smaller Northern Ireland parties in London yesterday produced "constructive proposals" but little visible sign of a way forward in attempts to overcome the deadlock on decommissioning.
With the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, and the British Prime Minister, Mr Blair, due to meet Northern Ireland party leaders in Downing Street next Thursday, Mr Blair held an unscheduled 60-minute meeting with the Sinn Fein leader, Mr Gerry Adams, at No 10 yesterday. The meeting was described by government sources as "an opportunity to touch base".
After more than two hours of separate talks between the British government and the four parties, the Northern Ireland Secretary, Dr Mo Mowlam, reiterated that London and Dublin had no intention of "parking" the Belfast Agreement.
"No one is walking, everybody is talking. That's because people know that the Good Friday agreement is the only viable way forward. There is no other alternative that both traditions can accept," she said.
The leader of the Women's Coalition, Ms Monica McWilliams, emerged from 60 minutes of talks with Mr Blair and Dr Mowlam proposing a "radical solution" to establish the executive in a transitional or shadow form. She urged Dr Mowlam to trigger d'Hondt and establish a transitional executive with all the parties taking up their posts, and moving the peace process through to the autumn and possibly beyond. If progress on decommissioning was not made by May 2000 then the two governments should "kick in" the four-year review written into the Belfast Agreement.
The UDP delegation, including the party leader, Mr Gary McMichael, and Mr David Adams, urged the parties and the two governments to take the peace process "by the scruff of the neck" and establish "structured" roundtable talks.
Blaming republicans for the current deadlock, Mr Adams warned that unionism had been "stretched to its limits" by the failure of republicans to build confidence in the peace process. "We believe as a party that the ball is very firmly in the court of the republicans on this matter."
At the same time the PUP leader, Mr David Ervine, said he did not want the Belfast Agreement parked and he welcomed the proposal put forward by the Women's Coalition.
Rejecting any proposal whereby Sinn Fein or other parties would be excluded from the executive, the Alliance Party spokesman, Mr David Ford, said the Belfast Agreement would not work unless it was fully inclusive.
Meanwhile in Belfast, the Ulster Unionists, Sinn Fein and the SDLP are to meet again next week in an attempt to end the political stalemate.
Politicians from the three parties held talks yesterday and agreed to adjourn until Tuesday in order to give them time to report to their respective parties and reflect on the exchanges which have already taken place.
All the participants in yesterday's negotiations made a decision to give little away to the media about what had taken place during this week's intensive talks at Stormont Castle. In a joint statement they would only describe the discussions as "useful".
But sources from all the parties admitted there was no immediate prospect of a major breakthrough. The UUP is refusing to sit in government with Sinn Fein unless the Provisional IRA makes a start to giving up its weapons.
This week's negotiations were said to be cordial and friendly, an improvement on earlier meetings between the UUP and Sinn Fein where the atmosphere was sometimes distinctly chilly. It is understood no concrete formulae are on the table at present, but participants showed a willingness to engage and focus on the problems facing the parties and the process.