With 10 days to go until the "failsafe" plan for establishing the Northern Ireland executive slots into place, the battle to convince the British public that the latest Blair-Ahern document is the best chance for peace is being fiercely contested in the British press.
Mr Tony Blair, in a Sunday Times article, stressed that unionism would face the world's condemnation if it did not accept The Way Forward.
However, Mr David Trimble has found several heavy-hitting supporters in the British press.
Yesterday's editorial in the Daily Mail accused Mr Blair of putting pressure on the wrong man. Instead of "morally blackmailing" the unionists, "the Prime Minister should insist that Sinn Fein-IRA prove its commitment to the ballot box by agreeing to an immediate start on decommissioning." The Daily Telegraph said yesterday that of all the epithets attached to Mr Blair during the talks process in the North, "one in particular stands out as wrong: `courageous.' There is nothing courageous about capitulating to the threat of violence while bullying peaceful democrats."
"Give Trimble time," urged the Sunday Times. "There is nothing to be gained from pushing Mr Trimble to breaking point with his party - quite the reverse." Yesterday the Times argued that unionists were not raising the "wearisome quibbles of ingrates".
The Guardian suggested Mr Trimble must "rise to the occasion" and call Sinn Fein's bluff. Similarly, the London Independent said unionists should realise they have legal guarantees that if decommissioning does not happen, Sinn Fein will be excluded. The Sun editorial on Saturday portrayed Mr Blair as a hero. "Where trust did not exist, he has produced certainties," it said. "If all parties now show Blair's will and courage, and rise to the challenge, Ulster is standing on the brink of a miracle."