The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, and the British Prime Minister will meet in Mr Tony Blair's constituency today to agree a package to break the political deadlock in the Northern peace process.
It is not clear whether the British-Irish package will be released at that point, although Government sources were indicating it would be unlikely. This morning's discussions are scheduled to last two hours. Mr Ahern will fly to Mr Blair's Sedgefield constituency and their meeting is due to begin at 9 a.m.
Last night a meeting between Mr Ahern, the Sinn Fein president, Mr Gerry Adams, and Mr Martin McGuinness went on for more than three hours in Government Buildings, two hours longer than scheduled. The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, also attended.
Afterwards, Mr Adams said it had been a satisfactory meeting. He said they went exhaustively through all of the issues which they believed had to be implemented. It was now "over to the two governments", he said.
Sinn Fein would make a judgment on whether there had been enough of a move on the policing issue when it saw the package, he said. "Whether the governments have now moved to a position that has Patten as the minimum threshold, plus the issue of putting plastic bullets beyond use, we can't make a judgment on that until we see the package."
He said it would be put before the Sinn Fein Ardchomhairle but if it "falls far below the minimum threshold that would be required" then it would not need to be put before such a meeting.
Mr Ahern, who was late for a Cabinet dinner at Farmleigh as a result of the meeting, also spoke to Mr Blair by telephone last night. The Taoiseach must return to Dublin by 1.30 p.m. today for the final Cabinet meeting before the summer recess.
Earlier yesterday Mr Ahern said there were no "major difficulties" relating to the package but said it had to be ensured that it was what they believed was acceptable to everybody. Asked if the issues between the parties were significant, Mr Ahern said he did not want to give that impression. The Taoiseach and the Prime Minister will attempt to calm frayed political nerves when they meet and combat the brinkmanship battle being waged by Ulster Unionists and Sinn Fein.
The political temperature rose last night after hardline Ulster Unionists Mr Jeffrey Donaldson and Mr David Burnside called for unionists of all shades to rally behind their call for a withdrawal from the Assembly and Executive.
Sources said the governments hoped to be in a position to release their blueprint some time next week. It was clear that they were under pressure last night to alter their package, with results that could force either Sinn Fein or the Ulster Unionists to reject the document.
Policing and IRA weapons are the two issues that could yet wreck this initiative, according to insiders. Mr Donaldson and Mr Burnside claimed yesterday that the IRA "is not going to decommission".
Sir Reg Empey, the Ulster Unionist acting First Minister, who would be generally supportive of Mr David Trimble, refused to comment on the Donaldson/Burnside statement but he too warned that without a substantive IRA gesture on arms the British-Irish initiative was doomed.