Former first minister David Trimble has joined the growing opposition to British government proposals to restore the Northern Ireland Assembly with initially limited powers coupled with an absolute deadline for the restoration of a power-sharing Executive.
On the eve of important talks between British prime minister Tony Blair and Taoiseach Bertie Ahern in London tomorrow, Mr Trimble told The Irish Times that Mr Blair should instead simply set the date for the restoration of the Assembly with its six-week statutory timetable for nominating an Executive.
That put Mr Trimble broadly in line with former Northern Ireland secretary Paul Murphy and SDLP leader and former deputy first minister Mark Durkan, who have also opposed recalling the suspended Assembly in any sort of "shadow" role.
However, Mr Trimble disagreed with Mr Murphy's weekend suggestion that failure to achieve an Executive after the six-week period should result in fresh Assembly elections. The former Ulster Unionist leader believes an Assembly decision to form an Executive or not is the essential first step to "clear the decks" and allow London and the political parties to consider alternative ways forward if the devolution component of the Belfast Agreement cannot be restored.
Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams also wants Mr Blair to recall the Assembly and trigger the mechanism for nominating an Executive, but says the Assembly should be scrapped if the DUP refuses to share power by "early summer".
Downing Street continues to cite the absence of agreement among the parties on any alternative, in a defence of Mr Blair's apparent determination to force a decision on the Assembly after an interim period, which he hopes will see the Independent Monitoring Commission satisfy DUP demands for the complete cessation of all IRA activity.
Irish officials are not prepared to second-guess the outcome of tomorrow's Downing Street talks, now described as a "stock-taking" exercise.