The British Prime Minister and the Taoiseach are expected to travel to Belfast at the end of the month to take part in an intensive three or four-day effort to break the impasse in the peace process in time for the June 30th deadline.
While the coming week will see a round of meetings aimed at making progress, there is a widespread view that no final settlement can be achieved until the deadline is almost at hand. "They are all waiting until the last day and the last hour," a senior political source said last night.
A political symmetry had developed between Sinn Fein and the Ulster Unionists whereby movement from one side had become conditional on a cast-iron guarantee of reciprocal movement from the other. The phrase used by Mr Gerry Adams in the US about Mr David Trimble and him "jumping together" has become a central feature in strategic thinking about how to break the impasse.
On a previous occasion, Sinn Fein declared that violence must be a thing of the past and appointed Mr Martin McGuinness as its representative to the decommissioning body. But the republicans felt Mr Trimble failed to provide adequate reciprocation.
There is speculation now about a similar scenario, whereby the republican movement would provide persuasive evidence of its democratic intentions in the confident expectation that the UUP would agree to Sinn Fein participation in an executive.
The UUP is sticking firmly to its public position of "no guns, no government", and the gap between the two sides seems as far apart as ever. The huge challenge facing Mr Tony Blair and Mr Ahern is to find imaginative ways of bridging that gap.
Sources in both governments were adamant that the deadline must be met. Dublin insiders rejected outright the notion that the unionists could prolong the impasse until May 2000 in an effort to prove republicans were not sincere about decommissioning.
Mr Blair's speech in Belfast this week underlined yet again the fixed nature of the June 30th time limit. While he has not spelt out the implications of missing the deadline, political sources are in little doubt that collapsing the Assembly and suspending members' salaries are under serious consideration. The political benefits of causing such an outcome would not be apparent even to some in the anti-agreement camp of unionism.
While the unionists have repeatedly said that words from the republicans are not enough, there is no doubt that a republican statement suggesting the "war" was at an end or accepting that decommissioning was an "obligation" would be helpful under current circumstances. There is no evidence whatsoever that any such statement from the IRA is on the cards, although pronouncements of a moderate nature from Sinn Fein are not ruled out.
Today's meeting of the 110-member Ulster Unionist Party executive is likely to consider the results of the European elections. Expectations of a political showdown were being firmly played down last night.
There may be some recrimination over the failure of the party's deputy leader at Westminster, Mr John Taylor, to endorse Mr Jim Nicholson. This should provoke a robust response from Mr Taylor, who will probably stress that it was a matter of conscience.
"There will be a very concerted effort to heal divisions and to present a united front for the forthcoming negotiations," a UUP source said. The fact that the party retained its European seat despite a drop in support has stabilised the leadership, and predictions that Mr Trimble would challenge dissidents to "back me or sack me" were dismissed.
There is speculation that Mr Blair may make a brief visit late next week to set the scene for his subsequent and more protracted stay. It is likely that some of the more important talks sessions next week will be held in London.
The whole notion of establishing a "shadow of a shadow executive" has now gone completely by the board. The idea of time-limited ministerial nominations, which would lapse if there were no decommissioning by June 30th, has been rejected by nationalists of all shades.
The two governments are now looking at the possibility of forging a historic republican-unionist compromise on weapons of war and moving straight into the formation of an executive with devolved powers.