As talks aimed at saving the UN conference against racism continue in South Africa, officials are hoping agreement can be reached before the conference ends today.
"Delegates are seriously seeking to reach agreement," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mrs Mary Robinson told ireland.comas she left a meeting with NGOs earlier today.
The Middle East and legacies of colonialism are the two most contentious issues and have continued to threaten the successful completion of the conference in Durban.
This morning, the conference battle forced the Irish delegation to abandon a daily briefing with participants from Ireland. But A delegation spokesman told ireland.com: "We are still positive of a breakththrough".
It has also emerged that out of 257 paragraphs that would make up the final declaration for the conference, 164 of them have been adopted by the working group on the programme of action, 24 paragraphs are adopted with bracket and 69 paragraphs are still being negotiated.
This afternoon conference officials denied the conference could be extended or suspended. A spokeswoman said: "The conference will end today. If consensus cannot be reached, it goes to vote".