INDEPENDENT unionist Claire Sugden was understood to have held further discussions with Arlene Foster and Martin McGuinness yesterday as the deadline for the appointment of a justice minister loomed.
The 29-year-old East Derry MLA only emerged as a contender last week when Alliance snubbed a DUP-Sinn Féin offer.
Her presence at Stormont Castle was in contrast to the absence of Alliance and the Green Party, who have had no further engagement with the first and deputy first ministers.
Alliance was last night insisting it was sticking to the position endorsed by the party's rank and file at a meeting in Belfast last Thursday.
Negotiations that were widely expected to lead to Alliance resuming the role it had held since 2010 broke down after five conditions it set out were rejected by Stormont's big two.
As speculation over who will succeed David Ford intensified, Sinn Féin unveiled its new ministerial team yesterday but chose to keep people guessing over which portfolios they would take charge of.
Former agriculture minister Michelle O'Neill joins Mr McGuinness as the only executive member to be reappointed.
She will be joined at the Stormont Castle table by South Down MLA Chris Hazzard and former Belfast mayor Máirtín Ó Muilleoir, with 24-year-old Megan Fearon expected to take a junior minister's post.
Announcing the new line-up, Mr McGuinness said the executive would "in the main" be made up of the DUP and Sinn Fein, fuelling further speculation that someone outside of the two parties could take the justice role.
"The fuller picture will emerge tomorrow and will become much clearer," he said.
He added: "While others have walked away from their responsibilities, the Sinn Féin team will work with the other ministers in partnership to deliver for all the people."
Ms Foster said she remained "absolutely" confident an administration including a justice minister would be formed by today's deadline, ensuring another election would not be triggered.
"A justice minister will be appointed first and then the other ministers," she said.
The appointments will become official today shortly after noon, when the eight new ministers are unveiled in the assembly chamber.
Whether all ministers for the new slimline executive are appointed under the d'Hondt system depends on who takes the justice job.
If Ms Sugden is chosen – or someone else from outside the DUP or Sinn Féin – then Ms Foster's party will have four executive seats to Sinn Féin's three.
The Ulster Unionists and SDLP have both said they will sit in opposition.
The possibility of a DUP justice minister cannot be discounted, though it is thought that such a scenario would involve a major concession to Sinn Féin elsewhere.
The two DUP MLAs most often linked with the justice job are Policing Board member Alastair Ross and party chief whip Peter Weir.
The DUP has ruled out allowing Sinn Fein to take the politically sensitive role.
The new-look executive is expected to hold its first meeting tomorrow.
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Sinn Fein's new ministerial team
Michelle O’Neill
The only Sinn Féin minister apart from Martin McGuinness to be reappointed to the executive, the Mid Ulster MLA was regarded as competent in her previous role in agriculture, though that department is generally seen as one of the less challenging portfolios.
At 39, she was still a teenager at the time of the IRA’s 1994 ceasefire and worked as an adviser in the assembly to Francie Molloy before a stint as a councillor ahead of becoming an MLA in 2007.
She has sat on the Stormont education committee and served as the party’s health spokesman.
There’s an expectation that Ms O’Neill will take the charge of the new Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, although she is also an outside bet for either economy or finance.
Máirtín Ó Muilleoir
Considered the most middle class-friendly Sinn Féin MLA, Máirtín Ó Muilleoir enjoys a high profile on social media and was known for his selfies during a busy term as Belfast lord mayor in 2013-14.
Co-opted into the assembly in 2015, the newspaper owner had previously taken a sabbatical from 1997 to 2011 to concentrate on his business interests.
An Irish speaker and marathon runner, Mr Ó Muilleoir has been keen to reach out the hand of reconciliation, although his efforts were rejected when he was jostled during a mayoral visit to re-open a north Belfast park in August 2013.
Long linked with the Stormont economy job, he is also an outside contender for the finance portfolio depending on the DUP's picks of ministries.
Chris Hazzard
Co-opted into the assembly early in the last mandate, South Down MLA Chris Hazzard is regarded as one of Sinn Féin’s brightest prospects, taking a particular interest in education.
He blotted his copy book last year during a Nolan Show appearance when he suggested Sinn Féin advocated clearing everybody’s credit card debt, but the 31-year-old has managed to keep his head down since and has also become a father.
His credentials suggest Mr Hazzard has been earmarked for education but don’t be too surprised if he bags the agri-environment portfolio.
Megan Fearon
The youngest ever Stormont minister, 24-year-old Megan Fearon was only co-opted to the assembly in 2012 as a replacement for Conor Murphy in Newry and Armagh.
Her appointment, most likely in the role of junior minister, represents a clear generational shift for her party.
A Queen’s graduate, she sat on Stormont’s finance and enterprise committees, as well as on the all-party group for children and young people.
