THE British and Irish governments hope to postpone crunch, decisions on the decommissioning of paramilitary weapons at least until after the summer, it emerged last night.
At the same time, the latest London/Dublin moves could meet Sinn Fein demands for some form of timeframe or review process for the all party negotiations, due to start in Belfast on June 10th.
Under an emerging Anglo Irish plan the parties would be scheduled to "take stock" of developments on both the "political" and "decommissioning" fronts in September some three months into the process.
Informed sources in London, meanwhile, confirm they expect the talks process to be chaired by former US senator, Mr George Mitchell assisted by Gen John de Chastelain and former Finnish Prime Minister, Mr Hari Holkeri, who served with him previously on the International Body.
The Tanaiste, Mr Spring, and the Secretary of State, Sir Patrick Mayhew, will meet again in London next Tuesday in an attempt to put the finishing touches to the compromise proposal, which it is hoped will persuade the IRA to reinstate the ceasefire, and thus permit Sinn Fein to participate in the negotiations.
As the results in the North's elections were declared, British and Irish officials met in London yesterday to advance the plan which, it is understood, would permit political talks to proceed in parallel with discussion of the decommissioning issue.
As previously reported in The Wish Times, a decommissioning committee is expected to be appointed at the first plenary session of the negotiations on June 10th. That committee would "address" the decommissioning issue, and report back to the plenary body, which would continue discussion of the agenda and procedures for the negotiations proper.
Senior Conservatives at Westminster were happy with that proposal, apparently on the basis of British government assurances "that there would be no movement into "substantive" negotiations until, the methodology of decommissioning paramilitary arms had been agreed.
"But the new element in London/Dublin thinking provides for a "review period", pencilled in for September, which would appear to meet Sinn Fein concerns that the talks process would not simply become a decommissioning conference.
While such provision would not, in itself, confirm a further British concession on the decommissioning issue it would appear to provide Sinn Fein with an opportunity to test the commitment of the other parties to substantive negotiations, without first starting a decommissioning process.
In an interview for yesterday's Financial Times, Mr Gerry Adams, the Sinn Fein president, repeated his call for "a timeframe of sorts" for the talks process Mr Adams said. "There could be a number of dates or review dates, but there needs to be an agreed timeframe so that we don't have talks about talks about talks in perpetuity."