Taoiseach to seek meeting with North talks leaders

The Taoiseach is hoping to have a meeting with all of the party leaders involved in the Stormont talks the week after next. Arrangements for a single meeting with the Northern leaders, including Mr David Trimble and Mr Gerry Adams, will be made by the Taoiseach's office in the next few days.

A Government spokesman said last night that Mr Ahern hoped that the meeting could be held in Dublin, but he was prepared to travel to the North if necessary.

The proposed meeting is one of many initiatives to be taken by the Taoiseach in the coming weeks to give momentum to the all-party negotiations and arrest the discontent emerging in the republican movement.

Government sources confirmed last night that there had been "some resignations" from the IRA's South Armagh brigade but that a report that 35 people had left was exaggerated.

Mr Ahern will be trying to clarify the moves that should be taken by the Government to bring the talks forward at his meeting with Northern leaders later this month.

He is also seeking a personal briefing on areas of contention in an attempt to increase the pace of progress in the run-up to the next plenary session of the talks between December 1st and 3rd.

The Taoiseach will also meet the British Prime Minister, Mr Blair, on the margins of the two-day EU mini-summit in Luxembourg on November 20th and 21st.

Meanwhile, the Forum for Peace and Reconciliation, chaired by Mrs Justice Catherine McGuinness, will meet in Dublin Castle on December 5th, after the plenary session in Stormont.

The heightened Government activity stems from concern about the tensions caused by loyalist activity on the ground and disaffections in the republican movement. Government sources are reported to be anxious to make sure that there is progress in the talks. There is no sense in Government circles that there is a threat to the IRA ceasefire.