The Provisional IRA has said that it has "agreed" a scheme with the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning (IICD) which will put its weapons "completely and verifiably beyond use".
In a short statement issued last night to the republican newspaper An Phoblacht, the IRA said its representative had met the IICD eight times over the past five months and it would continue to hold discussions with the arms body.
The IRA statement, however, is unlikely to go far enough to prevent the collapse of the North's political institutions. A suspension of the Assembly by the British government now seems increasingly likely.
On Monday, the IICD said the IRA had proposed a method of putting weapons beyond use with which the commission was satisfied. Unionists said the statement was inadequate and had demanded details of when and how weapons would be decommissioned.
An Ulster Unionist spokesman last night said Mr David Trimble would not be commenting on the statement until after he had examined it today. However UUP MP Mr Jeffrey Donaldson said it was clearly not enough.
"The lack of content of this statement is only matched by the IRA's lack of action. It is too little too late. The IRA statement only marks time and confirms that they have proposed a scheme for the decommissioning of weapons to the IICD."
Sinn Fein MP Mr Martin McGuinness declined to comment on the statement until he had seen it.
The SDLP leader, Mr John Hume, last night said the statement was "a welcome and positive development".
Mr Ian Paisley jnr, of the DUP, said the IRA's statement was "a non-statement about a non-event".
Today is widely regarded as the de facto deadline for a political breakthrough. A new election for the First and Deputy First Ministers must be held in the Assembly by midnight on Saturday. Protocol dictates that members must be notified of this by tomorrow.
If the Assembly fails to elect a First and Deputy First Minister on Saturday, the Northern Secretary, Dr John Reid, has two options - to suspend it to allow for further negotiations or to call fresh elections.
A short suspension is believed to be the British government's favoured option. However, Dr Reid might not make a final decision for another 48 hours or later. He does not have to announce a decision on suspension immediately and could possibly wait until next week or later to do so.