Significant progress has been made in the talks in the seven months since the Labour Party came to power in Britain, the Northern Secretary, Dr Mo Mowlam said last night, and she believed this would continue in the coming months.
Asked in an interview with Jeremy Paxman on the BBC 2 Newsnight programme if there could be real progress by next May, Dr Mowlam said she believed there could.
"When there is a goal it makes a real difference and I hope the people of Northern Ireland and all involved in the talks will join in working towards that goal," she said.
The Northern Secretary stressed that confidence was crucial to the success of the peace talks.
"In Northern Ireland politics it is easy to look on the downside, but I believe confidence is crucial to success. You must remain positive," she said.
But when asked by Mr Paxman if she would like the success of the Northern Ireland talks after so many years of failure as her political epitaph, Dr Mowlam was more reticent. "Let's wait and see how it works out," she said.
Earlier in the interview, Dr Mowlam revealed with some humour that the security pressures of the Northern Ireland position had an upside as well as a downside. "I ran away once, but they found me," she confessed.
She added: "After a while the security presence tends to spoil you. I have become used to it, and recently when out with my husband, I kept waiting for someone to open the door for me."