If the process, late last night, was still falling short of full agreement, it appears that there have been steps towards mutual understanding among the parties at the Hillsborough talks. The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern and the Prime Minister, Mr Blair, returned to the talks last evening - which they would hardly have done without some possibility of achieving further progress. Up to a late hour they were still engaged in discussions with the other parties. Spokesmen were still admitting the possibility of an agreement, if not now, in time.
There is no reason why an agreement cannot be achieved, Mr Blair said at Hillsborough. When the Taoiseach spoke in the Dail yesterday afternoon he acknowledged that there was still a wide gap between the Sinn Fein position and that of the Ulster Unionists. That gap, nonetheless, came down to "one very crucial point".
Principles are agreed, the difference is one of timing and dates, he said. Reading between the lines, this suggests that the two Governments and Sinn Fein have succeeded in reaching some measure of common understanding but that what has been on offer up to now may not go far enough to enable Mr David Trimble to respond without potentially fatal risk to his own leadership. Earlier reports suggested that a further statement from the IRA that violence is at an end may have been forthcoming.
Ironically, a few weeks ago, such a statement, along with some indication of a timetable or a willingness to discuss the modalities of disarmament, would probably have been sufficient to give Mr Trimble enough room to manoeuvre. But the passage of time has seen a hardening of positions and a further erosion of support for flexibility among the senior echelons of his party. The possibility of securing an agreement now would appear to depend on Mr Trimble's ability to bring his critics with him. The pity may be that there was not an earlier response to his calls for compromise.
The gap between Mr Trimble and the more intransigent elements of his party is apparent. What is not so easily measurable is the gap, if any, which may exist between the Sinn Fein negotiators in the talks and the people who command the IRA. Mr Gerry Adams has said repeatedly that he does not have it within his gift to deliver IRA decommissioning. But some comfort may be taken from the fact that yesterday's IRA statement does not mention decommissioning at all - in positive contrast with previous utterances which declared that the organisation will not yield up a bullet or an ounce of explosives.
The shift in position suggested in the statement found an echo in Mr Ahern's declaration that while the parties accept decommissioning is not a precondition, it is an obligation.
Whether these manoeuvrings contain the makings of a compromise, allowing the new executive to come into being this week, albeit in shadow form, was not apparent last night. If there is no agreement before Easter it may be that a break can allow the parties to reflect and return to negotiations with sufficient flexibility to bridge the remaining differences. There appears to be agreement on the destination to be reached and a shared desire to achieve it. Success in political bargaining has, on occasion, been built on less.