Ahern for London talks to avert Northern crisis

Taoiseach will travel to Downing Street on Monday for talks with the main pro-agreement parties in a final push to avert a crisis…

Taoiseach will travel to Downing Street on Monday for talks with the main pro-agreement parties in a final push to avert a crisis in Northern Ireland's political process.

Following a meeting late last night with the re-elected British Prime Minister Mr Tony Blair, Mr Ahern said they would jointly host talks in London next Monday with leaders of the Ulster Unionist Party, Sinn Fein and the SDLP.

Monday's Downing Street meetings will kick-start a series of intense negotiations on the long outstanding issues of decommissioning, demilitarisation, the stability of the new political institutions and policing.

With Mr David Trimble's leadership of the Ulster Unionist Party under strong internal pressure, hopes for a breakthrough have centred on the prospect of some movement by republicans on the disposal of paramilitary weapons.

READ MORE

Speculation continues that a gesture on decommissioning such as the sealing of an IRA arms dump may be on the cards, but there has been no firm evidence of this. The two governments will put considerable effort in the coming fortnight into an attempt to draw up a timetable for weapons decommissioning.

However Mr Ahern last night declined to echo the implicit suggestion earlier this week by the Northern Secretary Dr John Reid that the party which had done well in the recent election - Sinn Fein - had the greater responsibility to ensure the implementation of the agreement. This was the job of all parties, he said.

"It is our view that we have to achieve this agreement now; Time is running out," he said. He responded to a question on Mr David Trimble's future by repeating that the Belfast Agreement had to be implemented fully.

"We want to help all the pro-agreement parties. We want to help all the people in Northern Ireland."