Within touching distance

Wading through all the recriminations and accusations on Wednesday, aimed mostly at republicans, it was easy to overlook the massive significance of what had actually taken place.

No deal was struck, but the fact that all sides came within touching distance of one revealed just how much had been achieved.

The proposals document published by the two Governments held, among other things, concrete plans for the re-establishment of the institutions and the provisions of safeguards to keep them in place.

The IRA, for its part, was prepared to move in an unprecedented way to liberate the peace process and in a way that dealt with the genuine concerns of all reasonable people.

Earlier in the week, Sinn Féin confirmed that it would accept the governments' package. According to Tony Blair, the DUP also agreed to the document, although the DUP have not acknowledged that publicly. An historic step was about to be taken. However, a stumbling block appeared in the form of the DUP's demand to see photographic evidence of IRA decommissioning.

Such a demand was always a non-starter. Blair and Ahern were told this by Sinn Féin a week before the talks at Leeds Castle. When it surfaced in the proposals document on 17 November, republicans expressed their horror at seeing it there. That the issue was allowed to grow is the responsibility of the two governments, who should have made it clear to the DUP from the beginning that it was a non-runner.

Instead, they let it become a media talking point and, as Gerry Adams pointed out in his press conference on Wednesday, it deflected from what was a really good deal.

If a deal had been struck on Wednesday, it would have accurately reflected the fundamentals of the Good Friday Agreement, including its power-sharing, all-Ireland and equality provisions.

It was not, but the unrealisable DUP demands cannot be used as an excuse not to proceed with these proposals.