Six new North-South administrative bodies and an increase from six to 10 ministries in the North have been broadly agreed in principle by the parties at Stormont in a significant breakthrough in the implementation of the Belfast Agreement.
Although final details were still being worked out at 3 a.m. today, a deal was substantially in place. Arguments over the role, status and composition of a private company - rather than a joint state institution - to promote tourism on the entire island had delayed finalisation of the agreement.
When this matter was settled, there was a further prolonged discussion as to whether the tourism company should be under the aegis of the existing Department of Economic Development or a new department of culture, arts and leisure.
The political significance of this was that if tourism remained with the Department of Economic Development, where it has traditionally been located in the Northern administrative structure, it would be under unionist control.
The Ulster Unionists are expected to seek Economic Development as one of their portfolios. Nationalist sources said a UUP minister could then be in a position to "sit on" two North-South areas, namely trade and business developmentand tourism, and prevent them from expanding on an all-Ireland basis.
This discussion dragged on for several hours early this morning with the unionists said to have "dug in very deep" on the issue. But it seemed unlikely to prevent an overall agreement.
The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, played a key role earlier in ensuring that one of the six cross-Border bodies would deal with the Irish language and Ulster Scots. He persuaded the SDLP to drop strategic transport planning in favour of thelanguages body, as a concession to Sinn FΘin.
The other cross-Border bodies include three proposed by the Unionists - inland waterways, aquaculture and food safety - and two promoted by the SDLP in particular, namely, European funding programmes and trade and businessdevelopment.
New government departments would be created in the first instance by dividing Education into one for the under-18 school system and a new department dealing with higher education, training and employment. Environment is also to bebroken up into regional development and a "watchdog", i.e. protection department. There is to be a new culture and leisure department and possibly also a department of housing and social inclusion.
The near-complete deal had come at the end of a long day of negotiations when it looked at several points as if the talks would collapse.
There was a particularly low point when the Deputy First Minister, Mr Seamus Mallon, left Stormont by a side entrance shortly after 3 p.m. He went home to prepare for a visit to hospital today to undergo minor surgery for gallstones.
However, he kept in touch from his Markethill, Co Armagh, home by phone and other senior SDLP people sat in on the face-to-face negotiations. ein spokesmen strongly and sharply criticised the Ulster Unionist Party for its alleged reluctance to agree a deal.