A failure to establish a government in Northern Ireland would be a "tragic irony", the North's Deputy First Minister, Mr Seamus Mallon, said yesterday at the launch of an EU Structural Funds conference in Belfast, as £1 billion was currently being set aside by the European Union for injection into an administration.
However, the North's First Minister, Mr David Trimble, said he was certain that a "local and viable" administration would be established in the North, "as soon as possible" to avail of the funding which will be allocated to the North over five years.
Northern Ireland's Structural Funds package post-1999 will consist of three separate elements, with the region qualifying for transitional Objective 1 status for the years 2000-2005 and also benefiting from four Community initiatives.
Over 250 delegates from a wide range of local interest groups attended yesterday's conference, which was regarded as an initial consultation on the new special programme of funding.