British Chancellor Gordon Brown will meet Northern Ireland politicians at Stormont today during his first visit there for four years.
Mr Brown is also expected to hold talks with business leaders and discuss security issues with PSNI chief constable Sir Hugh Orde.
Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain with Police Service of Northern Ireland Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde welcoming Chancellor Gordon Brown to PSNI HQ. Photo Credit: Aaron McCracken/Harrison Photography/PA
He is widely tipped to succeed Tony Blair as British prime minister and is expected to use the final stop on his tour of the UK regions to get to know the key players in the North.
The visit comes just over a month after Northern Ireland's politicians took their seats at Stormont for the first time since October 2002.
The two governments hope recalling MLAs will help pave the way for a power-sharing deal by November 24th. Devolved government was suspended over allegations of a republican spy ring.
However, the court case that followed the claims collapsed, and later one of the accused admitted he had worked inside Sinn Féin as a British spy for two decades.
Denis Donaldson, whose subsequent murder has not been solved, also said before his death that the alleged spy ring was concocted by British intelligence.
PA