Some in the DUP are willing to test if Mr Hain is bluffing, writes Gerry Moriarty, Northern Editor
Peter Hain has staked his credibility as Northern Secretary and by extension the credibility of British prime minister Tony Blair on his insistence that if the DUP does not agree to powersharing with Sinn Féin by Monday, then the newly elected Assembly immediately crashes.
As the countdown to Monday continues, Mr Hain said if the deal is not done before midnight on that day then the Stormont shutters come down for the long term, and the only way back would be through Ian Paisley and Gerry Adams sorting it out between them, and another election.
He is not bluffing, he insisted. "I have not taken the stance I have taken without clearing my lines with the prime minister. He is not coming back for second helpings, and neither am I. I have not played it as hard as I have to end up with no credibility," said Mr Hain.
Those in the DUP who believed he would sacrifice Monday's deadline to buy a few more weeks or even months up to May to complete a deal, as some in the DUP were urging, "could not be more mistaken", he insisted.
Mr Hain invited the editors of the Belfast-based daily newspapers, the Press Association and The Irish Times to Hillsborough Castle to hear him make that very point in the clearest of terms.
Mr Hain, Dublin and Downing Street have been selling that very same message in all media for several weeks now. They've said it so relentlessly and so adamantly that Mr Hain would look utterly weak and vacillating should he now retreat from that position.
Nonetheless, there is a significant bloc in the DUP who don't believe him or are prepared to try to force back Monday's March 26th deadline, regardless of the consequences in terms of continuing direct rule with a "deeper" greener tinge, the renunciation of the election, water charges, increased domestic rates, the absence of a financial package for Northern Ireland, and so on.
Mr Hain and Mr Blair believe Dr Paisley wants to strike a devolution agreement on Monday, but are anxious that senior party figures such as MPs Nigel Dodds and Gregory Campbell - who favour a deal, not now but later, possibly in May - could yet drum up sufficient support to spook him out of signing off on the deal by the deadline.
He was concerned that elements in the DUP did not believe he was serious about the deadline. "The deadline is cast in stone," he said.
Without a deal by Monday he would continue as Northern Secretary and London and Dublin would strike up a "deeper" relationship.
He was conscious that some politicians and commentators argued that Mr Blair would never sacrifice his "legacy" on Northern Ireland for a couple of months. "But his legacy on Northern Ireland is already assured," said Mr Hain.
He warned: "If we don't do it on the 26th it may never happen. That's what I believe, it's what the prime minister believes, it's what the Taoiseach believes." He was dismissive of some DUP suggestions that even if the Assembly was dissolved an act of the Westminster parliament could speedily restore it.
"My one big fear is that people think there is a way back after midnight on March 26th. There will not be. There is no question at all of emergency legislation," said Mr Hain.
If the deal crashed on Monday it would, in the long term, be up to Dr Paisley and Gerry Adams - who don't speak to each other - to come back with an agreement for him to rubber stamp. Such a deal would require an election, said Mr Hain.
Well, you can hardly be clearer than thatYet up at Parliament Buildings, Stormont yesterday senior DUP figures didn't appear perturbed.
They said that the Hain hardballing was tactically wrong, and upsetting the chances of a deal, a view that was mirrored by DUP deputy leader Peter Robinson and Gregory Campbell. Said Mr Robinson, "The DUP is not and will not be in the business of jumping to Peter Hain's tune or determining our strategy on the basis of threats or bribes." But to quote another senior DUP man: "There is still a lot of work to do, and a lot can happen between now and Monday."