DUP leader the Rev Ian Paisley and Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams will come face to face at Stormont tomorrow to begin charting a shared future for Northern Ireland amid initial signs that the St Andrews agreement between the two governments is taking root with the Northern public.
As the British and Irish governments and the Northern parties seek to build on the momentum of their agreement, pressure is also falling on British chancellor Gordon Brown and on Minister for Finance Brian Cowen to provide a substantial "billion pound plus" package to boost its prospects.
Prospective first minister Dr Paisley and Mr Adams are due to lead senior delegations to a meeting of the Assembly's Programme for Government committee tomorrow to agree priority issues for the Northern Executive which is scheduled to be fully restored by March 2007.
Meanwhile, it became clear at the weekend that Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny will oppose any attempt by the Government to hold a referendum on the St Andrews proposals. Mr Kenny said at the Fine Gael president's dinner on Saturday night that a unanimous vote by the Dáil would offer any political endorsement necessary.
Attorney General Rory Brady is to offer legal advice to the Cabinet shortly on whether the proposals require a change to the Constitution, given the people's past acceptance of the Belfast Agreement.
In Scotland, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern indicated his preference for a referendum to be held in the Republic in March.
Labour leader Pat Rabbitte said the outcome of the Scottish talks was "somewhat disappointing" given the expectations raised by both governments in advance.
"It is essential that whatever form of 'electoral endorsement' is now sought should not lead to further strengthening of the political extremes at the expense of the more moderate parties who have done so much to bring about an end to violence to bring Northern Ireland to the position where it is today."
Tomorrow will be the first time Dr Paisley and Mr Adams will have had such intimate direct political contact. The DUP said its delegation would comprise Dr Paisley, deputy leader Peter Robinson and North Belfast MP Nigel Dodds. Mr Adams is expected to be joined by prospective Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness and one other senior party member.
The programme for government committee met throughout the summer and while early meetings were often acrimonious, in the latter summer months there was business-like engagement. The governments hope tomorrow will mark the beginning of similar contact between Dr Paisley and Mr Adams.
There is unanimous agreement between the parties that the opportunity to extract a financial package to support the agreement from London, Dublin and Washington and Brussels should be exploited. "This is the time to exert maximum leverage, not later, and we are talking about a package of billions, not millions, over a period of time," a senior DUP source said last night.
Sinn Féin and the DUP must say by November 10th whether they accept the proposals. Mr Adams and Mr Robinson said yesterday their parties would immediately embark on a consultation process with their politicians, party members and supporters.
Mr Robinson, rounding on Ulster Unionist Party leader Sir Reg Empey who categorised the St Andrews paper as the "Belfast Agreement for slow learners", indicated that the DUP continued to be generally comfortable with the Scottish proposals. "This agreement is immeasurably better than the lousy deal negotiated by the UUP in 1998," he said.
Mr Adams told a republican rally in Belfast that republicans must be prepared for DUP politicians attempting to sell the agreement as a victory for the DUP. Republicans must be "more mature" than that.
"Bringing rejectionist unionism into the peace process would be an enormous achievement," he said. "Our endeavour is to make peace with Ian Paisley and those he represents because we are avowedly anti-sectarian."
Mr Adams said he would brief a Sinn Féin ardchomhairle in the "coming days".
