Ten months after the Assembly elections produced a new political configuration of the extremes in Northern Ireland and 11 months since the failed political initiative to bring about "final acts of completion", the Taoiseach and the British Prime Minister will attempt to reach agreement on the outstanding elements of the Belfast Agreement.
The endgame for the agreement has arrived. Will Sinn Féin sign up to the effective standing down of the IRA and will the Democratic Unionist Party agree to the participation of Sinn Féin in the Northern Executive and the stability of the political institutions?
These are the issues for consideration at the three-day meeting in Leeds Castle, starting on Thursday, which will determine the political future of Northern Ireland. The jury is out on whether the negotiations will produce the required results.
They talk the talk but will they walk the walk? That is the big question now. Following the Assembly elections last November, it falls to Sinn Féin and the DUP, the two dominant parties in Northern Ireland which have traditionally enjoyed the luxury of outright opposition, to advance the negotiations on an all-inclusive devolved government. They have had enough time to come to terms with their leadership positions and to consider their responsibilities. It remains to be seen this week whether they will play a strategic role in advancing the political process in Northern Ireland or, as the sceptics suggest, they will act tactically to improve their parties' chances in the British general election.
The Secretary of State, Mr Paul Murphy, writing in this newspaper on Saturday, characterised this as the most critical week in the political process since the Belfast Agreement was signed and ratified by referendums in 1998. He is correct. The talks at Leeds Castle will quickly reveal whether the DUP and Sinn Féin are prepared to do business.
And the ingredients of doing business are well known by now. After the seminal speech by the president of Sinn Féin, Mr Gerry Adams, during the summer that they had to be prepared to remove the existence of the IRA as an excuse to obstruct negotiations, there have been positive and negative responses from the DUP. Dr Ian Paisley and Mr Peter Robinson spoke with forked tongues last week. The real position of the DUP will be revealed shortly. So, too, will the preparedness of the IRA to stand down as an army and dispense with its weapons.
Mr Adams lays the blame for any failure in the forthcoming talks squarely on everyone else's shoulders in an article in today's newspaper. He has nothing specific to say about the things he can influence himself. It would be naive to expect that the Leeds Castle talks will produce a definitive outcome in three days. The best case scenario, given all that has gone on in negotiations since 1998, is that the path will be laid out publicly on the issues which are obstructing a return to devolved government. Hopefully, the final process is at hand.