The Taoiseach and British Prime Minister will travel to Belfast this afternoon resigned to the collapse of their efforts to strike a political deal in the North because of a deadlock over visual proof of IRA decommissioning.
Mr Ahern had telephone conversations last night with Mr Blair and another with the Sinn Féin president, Mr Gerry Adams, in an 11th-hour attempt to avert the collapse of the proposed deal. Mr Blair also spoke to the DUP leader, the Rev Ian Paisley, by phone last night.
But late last night senior Dublin and London sources acknowledged that, short of an unexpected compromise by either Mr Adams or Dr Paisley today, the two leaders were resigned to travelling to Belfast to devise a "soft landing" for the political process.
Mr Ahern and Mr Blair believe that instead of signing off on a deal, they will be publishing their blueprint, of about 25 pages, to restore devolution. They are convinced that its proposals will be accepted by the public as a fair and unprecedented agreement that only collapsed because of a dispute over photographs.
The two leaders also hope the IRA may issue a statement today supporting the political elements of their proposals.
In the Dáil yesterday, Mr Ahern warned that the opportunity to strike a deal would "not come around again for some considerable time".
Late last night, however, a senior Dublin source and Mr Blair's official spokesman said that after a "short breather", the governments would again seek to find an accommodation between the opposing positions of the DUP and Sinn Féin, which could mean a resumption of negotiations in the new year.
Until that process was completed Dublin and London would defer plans to table alternative proposals, such as calling fresh Assembly elections or strengthening the North-South and British-Irish dimension of the Belfast Agreement.
Mr Blair's spokesman said if the impasse revolved around fundamental issues then the governments would have considered publishing their so-called Plan B.
But because it was over a "narrow" issue that could be yet bridged, the governments would relatively quickly resume their attempts to find a compromise over visual verification of IRA disarmament.
"We will be able to publish all of the proposals (today) and show the extent of the agreement we got on decommissioning, on ending paramilitary activity, on commitments to power-sharing while recognising that there is a gap, but that is a narrow gap on the issue of photographs," the spokesman added.
Dublin and London said that people would be "surprised" at the positive detail of the blueprint and at how much was achieved in the talks since the Leeds Castle negotiations in September.
One Dublin source suggested that, if Dr Paisley had avoided making his repeated remarks about "humiliating" republicans, the IRA might have been prepared to make some compromise on the visual proof issue, such as allowing Dr Paisley view photographs of decommissioned weapons but prohibiting their publication.
The DUP last night indicated republicans should take the blame for the failure of the negotiations as there was a requirement for visual proof of IRA decommissioning in the blueprint.
Mr Adams said he and Sinn Féin chief negotiator Mr Martin McGuinness met the IRA implicitly to urge it to accept the political elements of the governments' package, but not the visual verification clause.
It was also revealed that the IRA has contacted Gen John de Chastelain's decommissioning body to discuss decommissioning.
Mr Adams said there was an unprecedented opportunity to forge a deal.
He asked: "Is that going to be squandered because one party has set out this impossible demand that one group should be humiliated?"