When he becomes the first British prime minister to address the Oireachtas this morning, Mr Tony Blair will hail a new era in relationships between Ireland and Britain.
Following yesterday's joint meeting with Mr David Trimble and Mr Seamus Mallon, the Prime Minister's camp appeared confident last night that negotiations on North-South co-operation, the cross-Border implementation bodies and the ministerial shape of the new Northern Ireland administration could be swiftly concluded.
At Leinster House today Mr Blair will urge people in both islands to "forgive and forget" past enmities. He will assert the gradual death of "old notions of unionist supremacy and narrow nationalism".
And while understanding the aspirations of many for Irish unity, he will tell members of the Dail and the Seanad that they likewise must "understand what the best of unionism is about".
Mr Blair met the President, Mrs McAleese, at Aras an Uachtarain and dined with the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, and invited guests at Dublin Castle last night after an intensive round of meetings with party leaders in the North.
Addressing TDs and Senators today, he will stress the need for added momentum in the peace process and tell all sides it is time for them to live up to their commitments under the Belfast Agreement.
Whatever the present difficulties, Mr Blair will say, "we've come too far to go back now . . . North-South bodies must be established, the institutions of government must be established, decommissioning must start."
Two major sticking points until now have been Mr Trimble's apparent opposition to the creation of a 10-member executive and Mr Mallon's demand for an implementation body dealing with trade promotion, possibly involving the merger of industrial development agencies and the harmonisation of corporation tax regimes, North and South. While acknowledging that areas of disagreement remain, a spokesman for Mr Blair said he did not believe they would prove insoluble.
With Mr Trimble set to undertake a number of overseas engagements, next week is the effective deadline for agreement if the two governments are to enact the necessary legislation in time for the projected transfer of powers to the Northern Ireland Assembly next February.
However, unionist sources say any agreement will be effectively "parked" pending movement by the IRA on decommissioning.
There is no expectation that Mr Blair will be able to announce any breakthrough on the executive/decommissioning impasse today, although the clear calculation of both governments is that agreement on the structures to be established under the Agreement will intensify pressure on the republican movement to redefine its position.
Mr Blair will welcome the opportunity progress in the North has provided to improve relations between London and Dublin.
He will say he wants the future relationship to be about much more than Northern Ireland. He will point to the possibilities of a closer relationship, particularly as members of the European Union, sharing common objectives on the single market, enlargement, co-ordination for jobs and growth and in the fight against crime and drugs.