A BRITISH government source has refused to speculate on the possibility of a "historic conference" of the IRA's General Army Convention (GAC), saying it will "wait and see if it produces a permanent end to violence.
As some British newspapers reported the possibility of an IRA ceasefire being called before the end of the year, the source said the government had been "hoping for a very long time" for an end to violence.
The government would see if a meeting of the GAC was confirmed, the source said, and indicated it would not be making a knee jerk reaction to the report because there had been "many announcements about imminent ceasefires in the past".
The Northern Ireland Office said it could not comment on what it considered to be a "speculative story" and would wait for confirmation of a GAC meeting.
The Sunday Express questioned whether the IRA could deliver a ceasefire.
"Some sources", it said, had indicated that the IRA were prepared to give up some of its weapons "as a gesture", and that this would "open the door" to the IRA entering all party talks on the future of Northern Ireland.
The editorial comment posed a "worse case scenario" when it said it was not convinced there were new conditions in place to believe another ceasefire would be permanent.
It asked: "What has happened to persuade any of us that once the new peace process hits difficulty, Sinn Fein IRA will debate its way through the impasse and not just sulk and skulk its way into the background and plant another bomb in an English city centre?"
The Sunday Times focused on the debate within the IRA that may have led it to the decision to recall the GAC and the implications such a meeting would present for Mr Gerry Adams and Mr Martin McGuinness.
The newspaper said it believed the two men "could be ousted" if they were seen to have "misjudged the mood of the IRA rank and file".