With the Taoiseach and the British Prime Minister due to arrive in Belfast this evening for intensive negotiations, there is cautious optimism in political circles that the current impasse on weapons can be overcome, provided the political will is there.
The Government has brought forward its weekly Cabinet meeting in Dublin by 24 hours to today, to facilitate the Taoiseach's involvement in the Stormont talks designed to break the deadlock in the establishment of the executive.
Government sources said yesterday that in spite of half a dozen proposals aimed at getting over the issue of decommissioning, there was "no movement on the principal fundamentals held by each side".
"Ironically, not much needs to be done", one source said. "This is not like the week of negotiating the Good Friday agreement. The message we are getting is that the parties - the UUP and Sinn Fein - are trying."
Two main areas of uncertainty cloud the hopes for success. A great deal will depend on how much room to manoeuvre the Ulster Unionists have in a situation where their demands on weapons are not fully met. A further threat lies in the continuing instability in Northern Ireland, especially in relation to the Drumcree situation and the possible diversion of all July 12th parades to Portadown.
However, observers are convinced Mr Blair and Mr Ahern would not be travelling to Belfast without grounds for confidence that the current fears and difficulties can be laid to rest.
Expectations are growing that the republican movement will make a definitive declaration - either in its own name or to Gen de Chastelain's decommissioning body - that if the causes of conflict are removed, republicans will no longer consider it necessary to resort to arms.
The prospect of a physical gesture either through the hand-over or destruction of weapons in the short term is being ruled out by most informed observers. However, a republican declaration of peaceful intent would open the way to dealing comprehensively with the weapons issue further down the road.
At Stormont, communications between the various parties are said to be in a healthy state with a variety of solutions to the current problems being considered.
Less optimistic than the other leaders is Mr David Trimble, who suspects the process will be adjourned in crisis by the end of the week. He also apparently believes the IRA will ultimately concede on the decommissioning issue, but that republicans are undecided on timing and content.
If Dr Mo Mowlam insists on triggering the d'Hondt formula for allocating ministries in the absence of a prior decommissioning deal, unionists look set to coalesce behind a motion to block Sinn Fein's entry to government.
However, the Fine Gael leader, Mr John Bruton, expressed optimism that a solution could be found "because of my discussions with the parties in the last 24 hours". These had convinced him that there was a real will on all sides to solve the problem.
"The time gap between the appointment of a shadow executive and that executive being given real powers is a period within which a sequence of events, including the actual verifiable destruction of paramilitary weapons, can be choreographed in a fashion that all sides can trust", Mr Bruton added.