The British Prime Minister, Mr Blair, is expected in the North this morning where he is likely to appeal strongly to the people there to put pressure on their politicians to resolve their differences.
It is understood that he will visit an educational institution in Belfast for what was being described as "a keynote speech" on the state of the peace process and the need to implement the Belfast Agreement.
There will also be media appearances at which he will press home his message to the public about the urgency of reaching agreement. In line with this populist approach, there are no plans for Mr Blair to meet party leaders, although he will speak to Mr Trimble and Mr Mallon in their capacity as First and Deputy First Ministers.
Political insiders expect Mr Blair to pitch his message along such lines as "Everyone has got to move."
He was likely to make "a general exhortation to everyone to go the extra mile". While Mr Blair is known to be deeply concerned about Drumcree, there were no indications that he has anything new to say on the subject.
There has been no official indication so far of the British government's intentions with regard to triggering the d'Hondt procedure for allocating ministries. The Northern Secretary, Dr Mowlam, is said to be determined to go ahead, but the timing is uncertain and would be subject to approval by Mr Blair.
It had been expected that the procedure would be activated this week. But a question mark remained over this last night. There is general anxiety in political circles to complete the allocation of posts, but major sensitivities remain which could lead to delay.
The Ulster Unionists are reluctant to see the procedure implemented without a guarantee that Sinn Fein nominees will not be given the trappings of office this side of decommissioning. For their part, the republicans do not want to be given the status of "second-class ministers" with a role inferior to those of the First and Deputy First Ministers.
Dr Mowlam has been consulting the parties on the issue. But unanimity over the conditions attaching to ministerial nominations is thought to be impossible. "She may split the difference," according to senior sources.
There was general relief in unionist circles and in Dublin and London that the UUP candidate, Mr Jim Nicholson, managed to retain his seat, despite a big drop in party support, when the European election votes were counted yesterday. He was narrowly ahead of Sinn Fein, whose candidate, Mr Mitchel McLaughlin, more than doubled the party's first-preference vote.
The Democratic Unionist leader, the Rev Ian Paisley, who topped the poll for the fifth time, claimed the results showed there was "a majority of the majority" against the agreement, and he sought an immediate review.
The June 30th deadline set by Mr Blair for devolution remains in place but there is growing uncertainty as to whether it can be met. Shifting the deadline by a week or fortnight would cause serious problems because it would coincide either with Drumcree or the July 12th celebrations.
Were the deadline to be moved still further forward, there would be a dangerous political vacuum.
Speculation continued that Mr Trimble might take on his critics inside the Assembly party on a "back me or sack me" basis. If he retained his leadership position he would be able to exercise stronger discipline over potential dissidents. But in the absence of any progress on decommissioning, Mr Trimble is seen as being in a weak position internally.
His deputy, Mr John Taylor, came under fire last night from his Westminster colleague and UUP security spokesman, Mr Ken Maginnis, for refusing to endorse the party's European candidate, Mr Jim Nicholson.