A Sinn Fein delegation met the Irish Congress of Trade Unions in Dublin yesterday to discuss the peace process and economic issues. It is the first meeting between the two bodies since the new IRA ceasefire. The ICTU broke off contacts with Sinn Fein after the previous ceasefire was abandoned.
After the meeting, Sinn Fein's chairman, Mr Mitchel McLaughlin, described the talks as "useful and constructive". He welcomed the ICTU's decision at its biennial conference in Belfast last July to make the peace process one of its priorities in the coming year.