The Irish and British governments' package of proposals aimed at saving the Belfast Agreement will be delayed by a few days, a British government spokesman said today.
Pro-Agreement parties may not receive the package until early next week, the spokesman said, to enable the two governments to "refine" the document.
But there are still plans for a meeting tomorrow between the Taoiseach and the British Prime Minister in Mr Blair's Sedgefield constituency.
"There is still a little bit more to be done on the package," the spokesman said.
He was responding to several reports suggesting some slippage in the timetable for the delivery of the proposals on paramilitary decommissioning, police reforms, the scaling down of military fortifications and operations and the workings of the political institutions.
Earlier Mr Ahern had hinted the package might not be ready in time for tomorrow. He saidhe expected to be in touch with Mr Blair later today. However, he insisted there were no major difficulties.
He said: "If we do put it out in the next 24 hours, I think we have made our best shot at trying to deal with all of the outstanding issues in as fair and as balanced a way as we possibly can.
"It is difficult to give 100 per cent successful conclusions to everyone's wishes." Mr Ahern maintained only "minor matters" remained to be completed ahead of the package's publication.
Following a series of leaks this week on the contents of the take-it-or-leave-it document, unionists and republicans have in recent days hardened their negotiating positions.
Unionists reacted angrily to leaks on the policing issue, saying some of them were unacceptable, and have demanded the actual destruction of IRA weapons as the price for further power sharing with Sinn Féin.
Republican sources also demanded action on 20 areas of the Police Act to bring it into line with the Patten Commission's report on police reform and said they must see amendments to the policing legislation before they would endorse any deal.
PA