The Taoiseach said last night that he hoped the Irish and British governments could present pro-Belfast Agreement parties with their proposals to resolve outstanding issues "in the course of the next week".
Mr Ahern told reporters in Rio de Janeiro that he had discussions with officials in recent days on a number of "clarifications on the policing issue . . . The elements of the package are very clear, based around the stability of the institutions, the decommissioning of arms, the demilitarisation of the security infrastructure and the policing issue."
He said he would be talking to some of the parties by telephone from Brazil and from Argentina, which he will visit next week. However, he did not want to express "an official view" on whether the proposals would be accepted by all the parties until he returned to Ireland.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, said last night there was "no mystery" about the proposals. Department sources said the package was unlikely to be forwarded until the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, and the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, return from foreign visits late next week.
Intense discussions have been going on in Iveagh House in Dublin and in Belfast over the past few days: "But there is still work going on. It will be a distillation of the best efforts of both governments," said one source. It was "utterly vital that we jump the remaining few fences in the weeks ahead", he added.
Speaking in Limerick, Mr Cowen said: "I am confident that, with the necessary political will, it can be done." The Weston Park negotiations had been useful "in narrowing down the points of difference" remaining between the sides, he said.
Each of the four issues will be given equal prominence in the final document, he said. "I want to emphasise that this is not about preconditions or the primacy of one issue over another.
"All have their own integrity and significance, and all will have to be implemented. That is no more than the agreement itself demands," he said.
He added: "Of course, all our problems have not been resolved. It would be utterly unrealistic to view as a magic wand capable of waving away all our problems overnight. The reality is that the legacy of history, whether recent or distant past, will take generations to fully work through."
Monika Unsworth in Belfast adds:
The Democratic Unionist Party has tabled a motion in the House of Commons aimed at forcing the British government to disclose details of the package of proposals designed to salvage the peace process.
DUP MP Mr Nigel Dodds said it was "outrageous" that small parties with "less than two per cent of the vote" should be given access to the document while the DUP would not.
"To try to keep this deal under wraps among the pro-agreement parties is a gross violation of civil and democratic rights. It is clear that the package affects not just the pro-agreement parties and therefore everyone should know what's in it," he added.