Mr McLaughlin avoided saying whether Sinn Fein would be able to give Mr Trimble, further clarification on decommissioning.
Removing the fortresses that overlook the republican redoubts, such as Crossmaglen and Forkhill, would enable the Sinn Fein leadership to persuade the Provisional IRA to make a further gesture on decommissioning its huge arsenal.
This may be enough to convince the IRA to co-operate further on decommissioning, which in turn would enable Mr Trimble to lift his ban.Equally, though, Mr Trimble's sanction could lead to the suspension of the peace process.
It would probably have to consist of IRA decommissioning in return for further reform of Ulster's police along the lines suggested by Chris Patten's commission in 1999.
Mutual mistrust will ensure that there will be further crises whether over marches, police reform, or decommissioning yet again.
The pioneers underestimated the costs of decommissioning, and the meagre sums put aside for this were further diluted during privatisation, says Malcolm Grimston of Chatham House, a think-tank.Mismanagement has probably made a tough job more difficult.
Republicans are calling for widespread demilitarisation in south Armagh in return for further IRA moves to decommission its arsenal of illegal weapons.
They suspect that there will be a failure to deliver further down the line, when the first guns are meant to be dealt with in some still-unspecified fashion by the decommissioning body led by the Canadian general, John De Chastelain.The pressure on Mr Trimble was coming from all sides.
He added: "Furthermore, the announcements made to provide more certainty on the decommissioning tax relief, if implemented, should allow companies to recover cash flow previously tied up in financial guarantees for further investment across the UKCS".
The stumbling block remains decommissioning.
