A number of senior DUP MPs are still resisting moves by party leader the Rev Ian Paisley to conclude a powersharing deal by the March 26th deadline. However, there is an expectation among some of the dissenters that Dr Paisley will force the issue to a positive outcome at a crucial meeting of the DUP executive scheduled for tomorrow week.
This became clear last night as British prime minister Tony Blair and chancellor Gordon Brown reviewed the options for a further "peace dividend" for the North, amid rising British government and Sinn Féin confidence that Dr Paisley is ready to assume the role of first minister in a new Stormont executive jointly led by Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness.
DUP deputy leader Peter Robinson - who will be a crucial figure as the party nears a point of decision - insisted yesterday that the DUP's terms had not yet been met and that the party remained "condition led, not calendar led".
However, Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams emerged from talks with Mr Brown and Mr Blair saying there was "a real sense . . . that this could be it".
Significantly, Mr Adams observed, his discussions followed Dr Paisley's own separate meetings with Mr Blair and Mr Brown. Asked if he thought Dr Paisley was "going to deliver", Mr Adams said: "I think everyone is working on the presumption that there was an election to an executive and that that's what all of us are working toward."
Meanwhile, the Conservative Party wants devolution restored by the March 26th deadline. However, it would "facilitate" the government if Mr Blair found it necessary to rush through further emergency legislation extending the life of the new Assembly elected last week. Downing Street, however, insists the deadline is fixed .
Ahern hopeful of executive by deadline: page 9