Ahern and Blair in last push to secure North settlement
The Irish and British governments will make one last push today to secure agreement between Sinn Féin and the DUP on the restoration of power-sharing in the North.
No real progress has been reported so far during talks among the Northern parties at St Andrew's in Scotland.
Sinn Féin and the DUP are apparently willing to take significant steps to resolve the central issue, but cannot agree on the sequencing of their actions.
The republican party is understood to be prepared to end its opposition to the PSNI, while the unionist party is apparently willing to commit itself to sitting in government with Sinn Féin.
However, neither side wants to take the first step, leading to what the UUP has described as a Mexican stand-off.
Yesterday, the Taoiseach and British prime minister said they would put their own proposals to the parties if they failed to reach agreement among themselves by today.
