The North's First Minister, Mr David Trimble, has insisted he will not appoint a substitute or alternate First Minister, as provided for by legislation, when he resigns on Sunday.
However, speaking before his meeting with the British Prime Minister, Mr Blair, and the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, he confirmed he would allow the functions of his post to be exercised when he steps down. Mr Blair and Mr Ahern met the pro-agreement parties at Hillsborough Castle yesterday.
Mr Trimble became angry when he was pressed on whether that move equated with him nominating a substitute under the Northern Ireland Act, which came into force on devolution.
"There will be no First Minister, there will be no Deputy First Minister. That will be the position until there is a fresh election. We are not in the business of rotating ministers. There is no substitute, there is no alternate," he said.
"However, the legislation does provide for the exercise of functions during a six-week period. That will happen."
The UUP leader demanded the publication of the impending report from the de Chastelain decommissioning body. "We will see that absolutely no progress has been made by republicans in keeping the promise they made to us 13 months ago," he said.
The two governments must then respond to that failure. "If it cannot be kept, then we all have some very serious thought to do as to the alternatives. We're ready to explore that. We're not here to listen to some flim-flam from republicans," Mr Trimble said.
The North's Deputy First Minister, Mr Seamus Mallon, said Mr Trimble had not told him if he intended to nominate a designate First Minister which would allow the Executive to continue working normally for six weeks before the necessary joint re-election to the posts.
"I've no idea what is in his letter. I've no idea what is in his mind," said Mr Mallon. "Let's not be distracted by the types of red herring that the unionists are throwing overboard at the moment to cover up their failure to honour the agreement."
Mr Mallon said there was a very serious problem in the political process and with continuing violence on the streets. "Some of the political parties are playing with people's wellbeing and the well-being of the agreement," he said.
The SDLP leader, Mr John Hume, again stressed that a move by the IRA on decommissioning "could lead very quickly to the resolution of all other issues", policing, demilitarisation and stabilising the political institutions. "The two governments and parties need to get around the one table and sort it out," he said.
The Sinn Fein president, Mr Gerry Adams, said a second suspension of the political institutions would be a disaster and would fail to protect them.
His party was waiting for Mr Blair to offer "a template, a strategy, a plan, which isn't about ad hoc-ery but which is actually about moving irreversibly into a dispensation based upon equality".
He said he was not surprised by the "ganging up" on Sinn Fein. "But for those who have eyes to see the threat to this process does not come from republicans," he said.
The real threat came from Mr Trimble and the ongoing violence. "The threat comes from those who would resign rather than face up to their responsibilities and from those who at this time are using guns on a daily and regular basis against their Catholic and nationalist neighbours," he said.