Mr Peter Mandelson has increased the pressure on Sinn Fein to provide greater "clarity" and "certainty" on its intentions as the Mitchell review moves into its make-or-break stage.
The pro-agreement parties are due to reconvene at Castle Buildings, Stormont, tomorrow amid widespread predictions that Senator George Mitchell is determined to bring the review to a conclusion either way this weekend.
But while pledging to spare no effort to assist Senator Mitchell, senior British sources last night gave the review at best a fifty-fifty chance. But it was made clear in Whitehall that failure this week to square the devolution/ decommissioning circle would be regarded as work in progress and would not mark the end of the Belfast Agreement.
As Mr Mandelson again said the British government had no Plan B, senior Whitehall sources warned that no party should expect to benefit from a continued political stalemate. Specifically they said there would be no cherry-picking of other provisions of the agreement, and that implementation of the Patten report would be more difficult in the absence of an executive.
It emerged last night that a number of parties are considering the possibility of a shadow administration for Northern Ireland as an interim stage in the peace process, should the parties fail to agree the formation of the executive. One proposed model would have ministers-designate chairing Assembly Committees in a scrutiny role, pending the transfer of powers from Westminster.
Along with the idea that Gen John de Chastelain might be called upon to make a direct overture to the paramilitaries on decommissioning, this is one of two proposals which might allow an interim success or a soft landing for the Mitchell review. However, even if Sinn Fein could be persuaded to embrace the notion of a shadow government, which it previously has rejected, there are signs that Mr David Trimble would face opposition from some pro as well as anti-agreement Ulster Unionists.
Making his debut appearance as Northern Ireland Secretary in the Commons yesterday, Mr Mandelson told MPs that nationalists and republicans were rightly looking to the early establishment of the executive.
However, in a clear signal that he believes Sinn Fein must move further if a breakthrough is to be achieved, Mr Mandelson continued:
"Unionists are looking for unequivocal evidence that republican violence is ended for good. Each is entitled to what they want. They need each other to make this possible. Both aims need to be fulfilled. There therefore has to to be considerable give and take. I hope from the talks taking place this week will emerge the necessary clarity, but also the certainty, that both sides need."
In an exchange with Mr Trimble, Mr Mandelson said it was entirely reasonable for unionists "to demand and receive that assurance and that certainty of intention which I believe it is an obligation on those in the republican movement to give."
Welcoming Mr Mandelson's appointment, Mr Trimble said his party was seeking "clear evidence of irreversible commitment to peaceful means." And he told the Secretary of State: "We are not interested in a fudge. We are interested in what will work."
Speaking just hours after Mr Tony Blair suggested an ongoing "battle" within republican ranks about the peace process, Mr Mandelson told Mr Trimble "the key to peace is persuading republicans and other paramilitaries to engage exclusively in democratic politics and to renounce violence now and forever." Mr Mandelson continued: "They have come a long way. They are still travelling in the right direction but many have not yet completed their journey. Now we look forward with some certainty and clarity to those people setting out how they are going to arrive at the end of that journey so that peace can be secured forever."
Mr Mandelson risked unionist wrath by describing the Patten report as "an honest and good report." However, in a significant change of tone from Dr Mo Mowlam, he said: "I honour those in Northern Ireland who have taken so much, and have sacrificed so much, in the course of their duty in protecting all the people of Northern Ireland. They deserve our gratitude and from me they will get it unstintingly."
He said: "Our job is to build a police service in Northern Ireland that builds on the best traditions of the RUC, its integrity, its courage and its discipline . . . but also a service that all communities in Northern Ireland can identify with and feel protected by."