The Northern Secretary has played down speculation about moving the multi-party talks to a location outside Britain and Ireland. Speaking in Dublin to the Association of European Journalists, Dr Mo Mowlam stressed the potential disadvantages, whereas earlier in the day she appeared enthusiastic about such a move.
"I am not suggesting that we will go to Bermuda for a week," she quipped. Recalling the recent talks session in London, she said it "was in the end a positive week". She continued: "Part of that was getting people all in the same place and talking more."
There were dangers in "taking people away". Expectations were raised and a hothouse environment created which could be either a plus or a minus. Putting the parties under increased pressure "may not at times be positive to the process".
On the latest round of talks at Stormont, she said: "We've had a good week." She would like to get more information across to the public and regretted that journalists were kept outside the talks building in prefabricated huts but "the difficulty is you can't hold negotiations through the press".
Some delegates were coming across more stridently in media interviews than around the talks table. She did not want to have to put the detail of the talks process into the public domain as it was happening. In the last couple of days, parties had actually engaged in the detail.
Dr Mowlam spoke in general terms about the shape of a possible settlement, which she suggested would have "some kind of devolved body", a North-South council, an intergovernmental structure and "something between east and west". She believed that "in that ballpark somewhere, things are going to fall".
She had been told that co-operation between the two governments had "never been better". The commitment of the Taoiseach and the Prime Minister was "second to none". This had made a "stupendous difference" and the degree of their engagement in the detail was "quite disconcerting".
There were times when the two governments disagreed but they resolved their differences rather than falling out. They had other common interests, for example in European matters. She stressed that the governments could not "negotiate by proxy" for the other participants in the talks.
She deplored the shooting in Lurgan, Co Armagh, the previous night and the destabilising effect of such actions, particularly in the nationalist community. There was a degree of fear around not seen for some time. There had been a de-escalation in security but because of the renewed violence this had to be reversed.
She was encouraged by Mr Ahern's optimism on the talks. "It is possible I think to make progress quite quickly now," she said. She was surprised at the low level of optimism revealed in a recent opinion poll conducted in the Republic; the level of hope and confidence was stronger in the North. "My bottom line is that it's hope and it's confidence which are so crucial in taking the process forward," said Dr Mowlam, who was accompanied at the lunch by the British ambassador, Mrs Veronica Sutherland. Asked about the outlines of a settlement, she said: "I would say the only way we are going to get an accommodation is for everybody to give something."