UDA leaders in the Maze Prison, who have withdrawn their support for the talks process, have said they hope there will be "light at the end of the tunnel" after today's meeting in the jail with the Northern Secretary.
Dr Mo Mowlam is also expected to meet leaders of the other main loyalist paramilitary organisation, the UVF, as well as IRA prisoners during her visit to the prison. A meeting with IRA prisoners is expected now as well. Last night, a Northern Ireland Office spokesman said Dr Mowlam was likely to respond favourably to such a request from IRA inmates.
Describing the state of the UDA/UFF ceasefire as "shaky", the UDA leader in the prison, Sam McCrory, said yesterday that 70 per of the prisoners had voted for their political representatives, the Ulster Democratic Party, not to return to the talks.
"We are hoping that the meeting with Mo Mowlam tomorrow will be helpful and useful, and may be there can be light at the end of the tunnel," he said.
McCrory, speaking to journalists visiting the jail, said the UDA leaders were going to "listen to what she had to say". They would then consult with other prisoners and contact the UDA leadership outside the jail. A final statement would be issued tonight or tomorrow, he said.
"When we go in to the meeting tomorrow, we will be going in with the situation on a knife-edge. We would be frightened now to say one wrong word, because at the end of the day, we are talking about people's lives in the future," said Bobby Philpott, another member of the UDA delegation.
The UDA delegation to meet Dr Mowlam will also include Michael Stone, who killed three people at an IRA funeral in 1988, and Michael Adair, who is serving a sentence for directing terrorism. They called yesterday for some prisoner releases as a confidence-building measure, and condemned those critical of Dr Mowlam's visit, including the Democratic Unionist Party and the Alliance Party. "Ian Paisley has no right to condemn anybody. He is outside this process," said McCrory. He denied the prisoners were engaging in "brinkmanship" in order to secure concessions.
Meanwhile, the governor of the Maze Prison, Mr Martin Mogg, praised Dr Mowlam's decision to visit prisoners inside the jail. "It's a brave decision. She wants the peace process to succeed and needs all the help she can get."
Ulster Unionist MP Mr William Ross condemned today's visit and was also critical of his party leader, Mr David Trimble, for meeting loyalist prisoners on Tuesday in jail. He said Dr Mowlam had opened "a barn door" to a torrent of demands from every quarter. He believed she would end up "negotiating with terrorist gangs".
"From now on, the threat of violence if the terrorist organisations don't get the concessions they seek will be more serious," said Mr Ross, MP for East Londonderry. Mr Trimble, who met UDA and UVF prisoners on Tuesday, has supported the planned visit.
Mr Sammy Wilson of the Democratic Unionist Party condemned Mr Trimble's visit to the Maze, saying the Ulster Unionist leader was doing the British government's "dirty work". He said Dr Mowlam was going to the jail "to beg the prisoners' support for the sell-out process", adding that he hoped they would "show her the door".
The victim-support group, Families Against Intimidation and Terror described today's meeting as being "totally insensitive to the families of the victims of violence". They accused the British government of being prepared to allow paramilitary beatings to take place "as part of an acceptable level of violence to keep their political representatives at the talks".
Mr Alex Attwood, of the SDLP, said he believed Dr Mowlam's visit would be worthwhile. "I understand why people must take risks for peace, difficult though they might be and hurtful though they might be for others," he said.
The Women's Coalition also backed Dr Mowlam's decision and praised her for making a point of "engaging with a broad range of opinion" since she took office.