The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, took the high ground when he spoke in the Dail on Thursday about the suspension of the institutions of the Belfast Agreement. "Whatever happened, happened...we must now deal with the current situation", he declared. "I see no point in recrimination".
It has been a bruising and acrimonious few days with evident bitterness and clumsy attempts to play the blame game. Irish sources say there have been differences between Mr Blair and Mr Mandelson. British sources say Dublin misled - albeit unintentionally - on its ability to secure a gesture on decommissioning from the IRA. Both sides intimate that the other sat on its hands once the Executive was formed. Now it appears that last minute offers from the IRA to General John de Chastelain might have held the possibility of averting suspension had they been tendered in time.
Two realities have now emerged with clarity. Republicans did not, or could not, deliver a start date for IRA decommissioning in time to avert suspension. And the Executive and Assembly will not be called back into operation until there is an unambiguous commitment by the republican movement to exclusively constitutional methods. This is a zero-sum equation; a deadlock. A way has to be found around it if permanent stasis is to be avoided.
The negotiators have to find a way of picking up from where the process has foundered. What is demanded of the republican movement in order to have it participate as partners in government? Nobody has expected that the IRA would hand in its arms at local RUC stations. And those analysts are correct who argue that decommissioning is largely meaningless in practical terms. Guns can be replaced. Explosives can be made from farmyard chemicals.
What is required is a positive and unequivocal affirmation that the republican movement does not intend to fall back to violence as an alternative, or as a complement, to political activity. Decommissioning or putting weapons beyond use is one way of doing that. But this newspaper has always argued that it is not the only possible way. What is essential is that there be what the Taoiseach has described as "certainty of intent". In its recent statement the IRA has said it recognises the necessity of decommissioning in "the context of the removal of the causes of conflict". But this could mean anything. It has yet to state in clear, unqualified terms that its "war" is over.
Linguistic mazes have been built by Sinn Fein spokespersons, purporting to be like any other political party while levering the threat of potential IRA violence. Other parties to the Belfast Agreement have stretched their credulity, straining the very meaning of honest language, to seek to accommodate them. But republicans have to understand that there is a bottom line. There can be no admission to the democratic club for those who are not prepared to sign up to its rules. Constitutionalists will not allow democracy to be poisoned - even if it means that republicans must remain indefinitely in the political wilderness.
If republicans cannot find a way of giving the necessary clarity and assurances within the context of the argument over decommissioning they will have to try to find other ways of doing so. And the other signatories to the Agreement must seek to help them. There may be the possibility of resuming progress from where last week's 11th-hour offer by the IRA left off. Or it may be that new language and new methods of verifying intent will have to be found. It is unlikely that this can be done other than slowly. But if the will is there, it can be achieved.