Plans for London talks between Northern parties
Plans are being made for a series of intensive talks in London involving the Northern political parties and civil servants from the British and Irish governments.
After the cancellation of tomorrow’s scheduled British-Irish Council meeting, both governments are anxious to build on progress made last week at Hillsborough.
The First Minister and his deputy, David Trimble and Seamus Mallon, are travelling to London tomorrow for separate talks with the British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Both men are staying over until Wednesday or Thursday.
It is also possible that the Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams will travel to London for talks with Mr Blair.
The parties need no reminding that they have to break the deadlock over policing, decommissioning and demilitarisation within two weeks.
Further evidence of strains within the Ulster Unionist Party came today when a pro-Agreement assemblyman, Duncan Shipley Dalton, quit the constituency party in south Antrim in protest at its selection of anti-Agreement candidate, David Burnside, to fight the seat at the general election.
