CASTLE Buildings, Stormont, is a dispiriting place these days. Politicians come and go, but 16 weeks into this initiative they appear to be going, nowhere.
That sense of impending collapse was compounded with the discovery of the massive IRA bomb factory in London and the controversial death of Diarmuid O Neill. It further damaged any lingering hopes that there may be some politicians, prepared to take the necessary risks to move the political process forward.
In terms of necessary risk taking, the main focus is on the Ulster Unionist Party and on Sinn Fein. They have irritating monkeys on their backs, respectively the DUP and the UK Unionist Party, and the hawkish rump the IRA. And they can't or won't shake them off.
Two weeks ago, there were indications that the UUP would venture forward. A senior party member confided to The Irish Times that a deal could be struck to allow decommissioning to be tackled in parallel with other substantive issues, as the Mitchell Report recommended.
This week though there was back pedalling. Mindful perhaps of events in London, the same source said that the two governments now must first enact the legislation dealing with the mechanics of decommissioning. The ULP had seen the draft legislation which the governments had pledged to introduce but that was not acceptable.
"We don't trust the Dublin Government on this," he said. As such legislation wouldn't be in place until after Christmas - at the earliest the source conceded that neither would there be any movement in the talks until then.
Mr Seamus Mallon, of the SDLP, called this the "Oliver Twist" factor. "As soon as they get something, they want more."
But the UUP leader, Mr David Trimble, is also insisting that the mechanics of decommissioning must first be in place. Then, the parties would consider what timetable was necessary to deal with decommissioning.
He was ambivalent as, to whether he would accept a timetable as the US emissary, Mr Bruce Morrison, proposed this week - that would allow the arms be put on the "sideburner" while substantive agenda issues were addressed. That's what the two governments want to get Sinn Fein into the frame.
This current phase of the talks poses a tough dilemma for Mr Trimble. If he doesn't compromise on decommissioning, the talks appear doomed. If he does, he will be barracked by his unionist foes, and possibly also face internal party dissension in a sensitive pre election period.
The London bomb factory has made it more difficult for him to be adventurous. Mr Trimble would be very conscious that if he did break away from the rest of the main unionist family he could suffer immense political damage if that move coincided with another IRA bomb find, or far worse, a bomb blast.
The British and Irish governments will hold further trilateral meetings with the UUP next week. They may try to fine tune the proposed legislation to meet his demands, and also try to further reassure him of their bona fides.
For the past few weeks faxes and statements have been steadily emanating from Gerry Adams, Martin McGuinness and Mitchel McLaughlin repeating the party mantra - a demand for inclusive talks, a timetable, for an agreement, and confidence building measures. Those supplied, Sinn Fein would go to the IRA to seek a restoration of the ceasefire.
A timetable is an area where republicans are prepared to be reasonably, liberal, so that problem is not insurmountable. Confidence building measures have begun, on a minor scale. Last weekend, a decision was taken to transfer three republican prisoners from England to the Republic.
As far as the British and Irish governments are concerned, the IRA must call a ceasefire and Mr Trimble must, shake off the DUP and UK Unionist, monkeys and allow a compromise on decommissioning.
Next week, efforts towards those goals will continue. Nobody's confident, though. The Dublin source said the challenge in the coming months may be to try and "manage" stalled talks until some new initiative comes along.
Such procrastination would create another powderkeg, he realised, conscious that both nature and republican and loyalist paramilitaries, abhor vacuums.
