The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Andrews, appeared unaware of Sinn Fein's formal rejection of the Hillsborough Declaration when he arrived for the talks at Stormont yesterday.
Accompanied by the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ms Liz O'Donnell, and officials, Mr Andrews said on arrival that the important thing from the point of view of the two governments was that Sinn Fein "haven't ruled out" the declaration.
However, Sinn Fein's formal rejection of the declaration had come some hours earlier as the party chairman, Mr Mitchel McLaughlin, and justice spokeswoman, Ms Bairbre de Brun, arrived for a morning session of round-table talks chaired by the Northern Secretary, Dr Mo Mowlam.
"Our view is that the Hillsborough Declaration moves away from the Good Friday agreement and makes the transfer of power and the establishment of the institutions conditional on the delivery of IRA weapons," said Mr McLaughlin.
"So that there is no uncertainty or confusion about this, and given this propensity to negotiate through the media, let me make it very clear that Sinn Fein formally rejects the Hillsborough Declaration."
The IRA had previously dismissed the declaration as "unimpressive".
Commenting on the apparent failure of officials to brief Mr Andrews of developments before his arrival, a senior republican source said the Government had "taken their eye off the ball". He said his party had to publicly state what it had told the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, at a meeting last week.
Sinn Fein's formal rejection of the declaration was followed by a rejection of the declaration "out of hand" by the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP). The party spokesman, Mr David Ervine, said his party's reason for rejecting the document differed from Sinn Fein's.
"Our party has worked consistently through the negotiations and through the implementation of the Good Friday agreement to ensure that illegal weapons were not equated with legally-held weapons, those held by the RUC, the RIR and the British army. This declaration clearly combines the two through the collective act of reconciliation," said Mr Ervine.
In a press conference with the North's Development Minister, Mr Paul Murphy, Mr Andrews said he would be listening to Sinn Fein and the PUP "very carefully" at bilateral meetings scheduled for later yesterday. He stressed the declaration was a working draft which could be "refined and developed".
He said room for manoeuvre must be created on the decommissioning issue so the Belfast Agreement could succeed.
Mr Murphy said there was a "common purpose" among the parties. The Taoiseach and the British prime minister, Mr Tony Blair, would meet in Brussels today and discuss the issues.
The SDLP leader, Mr John Hume, last night challenged Sinn Fein and the PUP to give their interpretations of the decommissioning section of the Belfast Agreement so the parties could enter into "real dialogue".
Meanwhile, the Deputy First Minister, Mr Seamus Mallon, said the SDLP was on no side "except the side of the agreement". The arms issue was "poisoning" the political process.