The British Prime Minister, Mr Blair, is said to be ready to travel to Northern Ireland later this week to initiate the final stage of devolution negotiations.
Official sources refused to confirm reports that Mr Blair was planning to arrive in Belfast for a few hours tomorrow evening, but that his primary focus would initially be on resolving the Drumcree standoff.
The Prime Minister was expected to return to London for Friday morning's funeral of Cardinal Basil Hume. There could be meetings with Northern political leaders in Downing Street that afternoon. He was expected to return to Stormont's Castle Buildings early on Monday, remaining until the expiry of the June 30th deadline.
Speaking to a group of young people from Northern Ireland on UTV last night, Mr Blair said he was determined to carry on trying to secure agreement, but ultimately it was down to the parties.
"We have gone on talking and talking and talking. At some time people have got to make up their minds," the clearly-exasperated Prime Minister said.
"I have got no great Plan B in my pocket. If this goes down, then we will have to pick up the pieces in the best way we can. That is why it is important it does go forward, and there is no reason why it should not."
Mr Blair dismissed the desire of the First Minister, Mr Trimble, to see the Northern Secretary, Dr Mowlam, moved to another job. "Secretaries of State in Northern Ireland get used to being attacked by virtually everyone. There is nothing new in that," he said.
The North's Deputy First Minister, Mr Seamus Mallon, has proposed an "Implementation Accord" based on four key elements:
Commitment to inclusive democratic structures.
Agreement that decommissioning is not a precondition.
Acceptance by all of an obligation to achieve decommissioning within the time scale laid out in the agreement.
Collective understanding on consequences of failure.
"Sinn Fein should now put beyond doubt that they believe decommissioning should happen. All participants should accept an obligation to decommission and, working together with the de Chastelain Commission, should agree on the nature and sequencing of a process of decommissioning consistent with the agreement," he said.
Establishing the executive would enhance the conditions for decommissioning to take place. "But equally there should be a collective understanding that failure by Sinn Fein to discharge their obligations would lead to the loss of their entitlement to participate in the executive committee," Mr Mallon said.
Meanwhile the Ulster Unionists and Sinn Fein were at odds over the future of the Northern Ireland Assembly if agreement was not reached by June 30th.
Mr Trimble said that closing the Assembly "even temporarily" would destroy the agreement. Mr Martin McGuinness of Sinn Fein said that if the deadline was not met the Assembly "should be scrapped and the Assembly members' wages suspended forthwith."
There was growing speculation that Sinn Fein would walk out of the Assembly if the executive was not established next week, and that this would put pressure on the SDLP to follow suit.
Republican sources pointed out that the Assembly was a concession to unionists in the Good Friday negotiations. "It was very, very difficult for us to sell. David Trimble has to be told that everything interlocks and he cannot hang on to the Assembly."
There is considerable concern in republican circles that the two governments may not have a properly worked-out strategy for the coming days of intensive talks.