The Northern peace process receives a major boost this morning when the leaders of the main unionist and republican parties hold their first bilateral meeting at Stormont.
This face-to-face encounter between the First Minister and Ulster Unionist leader, Mr David Trimble, and the Sinn Fein president, Mr Gerry Adams, is seen as a significant breakthrough. But there are still serious differences between them on decommissioning and the establishment of an executive.
The format of the meeting was still being finalised last night and was clearly a matter of some delicacy. Initially, there will be what is called a "delegation meeting" at which a group from Sinn Fein will hold discussions with Mr Trimble and the Deputy First Minister, Mr Seamus Mallon of the SDLP.
Mr Adams will be accompanied by the Sinn Fein chairman, Mr Mitchel McLaughlin, Ms Bairbre de Brun, who is expected to be a member of the new executive, and the party's chief whip in the Assembly, Mr Alex Maskey.
After a general discussion, Mr Trimble and Mr Adams are expected to withdraw to hold their bilateral discussion. The UUP leader is likely to press Mr Adams on the weapons issue while he is likely to insist that the executive be established forthwith.
Sinn Fein remains adamant that it cannot "deliver" on the weapons issue, while the Trimble camp is signalling strongly that his supporters will not tolerate republicans in cabinet until there has been decommissioning.
Observers believe Mr Trimble could even agree on the number of ministries and the nature of the various portfolios while still refusing to sit in cabinet until the weapons issue was resolved.
Most of the parties are said to favour the maximum number of ministries, which is 10. But the UUP still adheres to its election manifesto policy of having no more than seven.
Further intervention by the British and Irish governments will probably be required to end the log-jam over weapons. Senior civil servants admitted they were having considerable difficulty devising a method for dealing with the issue that would satisfy both sides.
The indications last night were that the governments would seek to broaden the discussion and proceed with the implementation of those parts of the agreement which were not dependent on the formation of the Stormont executive, e.g., on human rights and equality.
An early formation of the executive was being ruled out by close observers, who said it "will come down to the final mile." The expectation at this stage is that the cabinet will not now be formed until close to Christmas.
Sinn Fein sources stressed last night that the participation of the UUP and Sinn Fein in the Belfast Agreement meant there was "an enormous amount of common ground" between them. Building trust was not going to be easy, "but with goodwill there is nothing that cannot be overcome."
While there was little expectation of any immediate concrete result from today's meeting, or any significant progress on difficult questions, the fact that it was taking place was still seen as a major step forward.
But it was seen as critical that the meeting take place in a calm atmosphere without any public recriminations afterwards.
"Everyone is holding their breath," senior political sources said.
Meanwhile, work is progressing on the practicalities of establishing the range of institutions envisaged in the agreement. Civil servants on both sides have been preparing papers on such matters as the areas for cross-Border co-operation.
The North's Political Development Minister, Mr Paul Murphy, has announced that Mr Trimble and Mr Mallon are to take part in regular weekly meetings with Ministers at the Northern Ireland Office to ensure the two men were "as fully briefed as possible to help the smooth transfer of power early next year."