London and Dublin are rejecting Sinn Féin claims of an ongoing negotiation over policing in the search for an "acts of completion" deal to restore Northern Ireland's devolved government.
And the SDLP last night endorsed the British and Irish government view that the passage of the Police (Northern Ireland) Bill at Westminster would mark the end of the legislative process for policing reform in the North.
Sinn Féin insists there is still "no closure" on a range of issues, including (British) demilitarisation, criminal justice, and policing. Party leaders Mr Gerry Adams and Mr Martin McGuinness have been in Dublin and London this week as part of their declared commitment to narrow the outstanding points of disagreement and difficulty.
However, the Northern Secretary, Mr Paul Murphy, justified this week's amendments to the Policing Bill in the House of Commons on the basis that he does not intend to introduce a third Bill. Irish and SDLP sources underlined this position yesterday, confirming their view that there was no further legislative package of policing reforms to come in the wake of the recent Hillsborough negotiations.
Official sources say both governments are agreed that the "shared understanding" reached then by the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, and the British Prime Minister, Mr Blair, already provides the basis for a political breakthrough and the restoration of devolution, which they say should be concluded on April 10th, or at least by Easter. And Irish sources yesterday supported SDLP MP Mr Seamus Mallon's view that such an agreement should extend to Sinn Féin's endorsement of the Police Service of Northern Ireland and a commitment to take its seats on the Policing Board following the Assembly elections on May 29th.
At the same time, Dublin confirmed that the question of the PSNI's "representativeness" - the creation of a police service representative of the community it serves - was among a number of issues of continuing concern to the Sinn Féin leadership, and that both governments were seeking to provide whatever reassurance and clarification they could.
The Irish Times has been told that proposals or commitments concerning the ongoing implementation of the policing reforms - covering such issues as "representativeness", "tenure" (officers serving in particular branches of policing for specified periods) and plastic bullets - will be dealt with in the annex to the policing section of the draft British/Irish "shared understanding" covering all the "acts of completion" necessary to the full and final implementation of the Belfast Agreement.
However, SDLP sources claim that, when published, these will be seen to be consistent with the already established policies of the PSNI and the Policing Board. As for the issue of "representativeness", the SDLP claims to have identified 2,000 job opportunities open to recruits from the nationalist community over the next two years.