Sinn Féin leaders Mr Gerry Adams and Mr Martin McGuinness are to meet Mr Tony Blair in London on Monday to focus on the British Prime Minister's reported difficulties in providing an amnesty for republicans on the run.
The prospect of a second IRA act of decommissioning is also likely to arise at this meeting in Downing Street. Any log jam over the amnesty for the so-called OTRs however could have implications for when and if the IRA might again move on arms.
Some republican and Dublin sources - supporting what a number of Southern and Northern security figures have already predicted - told The Irish Times yesterday that the IRA was now in a position to follow up on last October's act of disarmament.
The British and Irish governments at the Weston Park talks in England last year agreed the amnesty for those fugitives, mostly republicans, potentially facing paramilitary charges in Northern Ireland.
But Mr Blair could face difficulties if he introduces the amnesty by way of legislation. Tory and Unionist MPs oppose the amnesty and there is also disquiet in some Labour quarters. Although legislation might be passed in the House of Commons, it could be rejected in the House of Lords.
The British government, according to sources, is trying to devise a mechanism whereby the amnesty could be introduced without legislation. But finding such a mechanism is proving a complicated task, they added.
There have been some calls to link the amnesty to an IRA amnesty for the hundreds of people who have been forced from their communities. As The Irish Times reported this week, almost 700 people were ordered to leave their communities last year by loyalist and republican groups, earning them the title of the exiled.
There was also speculation that any amnesty could be reciprocated with a pardon for any RUC or British soldiers facing potential charges arising from incidents prior to the signing of the Belfast Agreement in April 1998.
The Sinn Féin education minister, Mr McGuinness, said yesterday there could be no linkage between these issues. He said it was incorrect to apply the term "amnesty" for those seeking clearance to return to Northern Ireland.
"The reality is that the OTRs represent an anomaly within the Good Friday agreement. They only represent a very tiny number of people, and both governments are agreed that that situation should be dealt with," he said.
"It is ludicrous that people who have been on the run for something like 30 years cannot return to their families, particularly as these people are very strong supporters of the Good Friday agreement," said Mr McGuinness.
The Sinn Féin Minister added that his party was "totally and absolutely opposed to expulsion orders", and that there was a huge responsibility on all politicians to resolve the problem of the exiled.
On an amnesty for RUC officers or British soldiers, Mr McGuinness said, "I come from a community that never had any expectation whatsoever that British soldiers or members of the RUC who were involved in killing hundreds of innocent nationalists would ever face a court. These people already have been given an amnesty by the British government."
He added: "But if the British government choose to view that as an anomaly within the agreement we would obviously be very interested to hear what they have to say." Sinn Féin was "working flat out to get all armed groups, including the British army, to put their weapons beyond use", said Mr McGuinness when asked about current speculation about an imminent IRA move on arms. "We want to see all armed groups face up to their responsibilities," he added.
Dublin and republican sources said yesterday there was a heightening expectation that the IRA would shortly engage in a second act of disarmament. Part of the justification to IRA grassroots for any such move was that in the current circumstances the organisation did not have a strong need to hold on to heavy weaponry, they said.
