Things are shaping up gradually for a new attempt to restore the political institutions in Northern Ireland, after elections to the Assembly sometime in late October.
The outcome of the fourth meeting between the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, Mr David Trimble, and the president of Sinn Féin, Mr Gerry Adams, offers a positive signal that there is an agreed agenda. Unusually, it is the two parties who have to agree the terms on which they will sit side by side in a restored Northern Ireland Executive - rather than the Irish and British governments - which are setting out their stall this time.
That alone is a helpful development. On too many occasions in the past, the two governments were required to move to impose a solution to the impasse in the peace process. Mr Adams and Mr Trimble are talking things out this time. Trust between these two leaders would go a long way towards solving the current stalemate.
Talks have reached a critical stage if the decision is to be made to call elections in October and return to devolved government in November. In this context, it is worth noting where the negotiations to bring about "acts of completion" to all issues outstanding under the Belfast Agreement broke down last April and May. The IRA gave a private statement to the two governments on April 13th last dealing with the decommissioning of weapons, ending the war and disengaging from paramilitary activities. The British Prime Minister and the Taoiseach found it to be insufficient. Mr Tony Blair sought clarifications on three questions. Mr Adams's answers on the decommissioning of weapons and bringing closure to the conflict were acceptable to the two governments.
Mr Blair then sought further clarification on whether there "will", rather than should, be an end to all paramilitary activity. The whole process foundered, however, when the IRA was not prepared to add Mr Adams's clarifications to its statement to accompany the Joint Declaration on the way forward. The Assembly elections were postponed and the Executive was suspended.
A lot of water has passed under the bridge in the intervening months. Mr Trimble's leadership came under the most serious threat as the UUP seemed to tear itself apart. But, he survived the anti-Agreement challenges and seems emboldened by his recent victory at the Ulster Unionist Council. He set out the three requirements to be demonstrated by the IRA over the weekend: a statement that the war is over, that arms decommissioning be visible and that there is an end to all paramilitary activities.
For their part, Sinn Féin is seeking guarantees about the stability of the political institutions. The party is also demanding that policing and criminal justice matters be transferred from Westminster to Stormont during the lifetime of the next Assembly to permit republicans to endorse the Policing Board. At the end of the current talks, however, it will be Sinn Féin's ability to convince the IRA effectively to stand down that will determine political progress this autumn.