British and Irish officials are to meet in the coming days to decide what strategy to pursue if it is impossible to prevent a suspension of the executive and Assembly by Sunday week.
Dublin and London, supported by the US administration, have been urging the IRA to make a move on decommissioning and Sinn Fein to sign up to the new police proposals in order to help end the political logjam. But despite the international pressure on republicans there are no indications of any such movement.
It emerged last night that the 50:50 recruitment criterion for the first batch of about 300 trainees to the Police Service of Northern Ireland will be met.
Of more than 7,500 applications to the new force a total of 550 have met the qualification demands. Of these 28 per cent or 154 were Catholics, according to the recruitment agency, Consensia. In the next few days the Northern Secretary, Dr John Reid, is expected to invite the Ulster Unionist Party and the SDLP to each nominate three members, and the DUP and Sinn Fein to each nominate two members, to the 19-member Policing Board.
So far only the SDLP has agreed to make nominations. Sinn Fein has said it won't join while the UUP and the DUP have refused to show their hand on the issue. The UUP leader, Mr David Trimble, and the DUP leader, the Rev Ian Paisley, jointly met Dr Reid to discuss their concerns on policing on Monday night.
The British and Irish governments are now turning their attention to devising a new "soft landing" for the political process if there is no agreement over the Weston Park package designed to end the political deadlock.
Senior Northern Ireland Office (NIO) officials met in Belfast yesterday to discuss a range of options such as a suspension of the institutions of the Belfast Agreement followed by a review of the agreement and/or fresh Assembly elections.
They are to meet their Dublin counterparts over the coming days to plan what action to take if the Assembly members are unable to re-elect Mr David Trimble and Mr Seamus Mallon as First Minister and Deputy First Minister by Sunday week.
Despite the growing pessimism President Bush's special envoy, Mr Richard Haass, left Northern Ireland yesterday evening expressing confidence that the political process can be safeguarded and reiterating the US administration's commitment to supporting the process.
Over Monday night and yesterday he met political leaders in Dublin and Belfast to discuss primarily how a political crisis can be avoided in Northern Ireland. He also raised US concerns with Sinn Fein leaders Mr Gerry Adams and Mr Martin McGuinness about the arrest of three Irishmen in Bogota and the allegations of IRA links with the FARC guerrillas in Colombia.
