Ahern to discuss North with Bush
An Taoiseach Bertie Ahern will hold talks on the North with US president George Bush today after presenting him with a bowl of shamrock to mark St Patrick's Day.
The Taoiseach will be joined at the White House ahead of St Patrick’s Day by Northern Secretary Peter Hain and Sinn Féin deputy leader Martin McGuinness.
The annual pilgrimage to Washington by top political figures from the North has been more low-key than usual this year, as talks back home to form a government in Belfast approach a critical deadline.
In last week’s election to the Northern Ireland Assembly, the Democratic Unionists took 36 seats and Sinn Fein won 28.
Mr Hain has vowed to shut down the Assembly if it fails to form a coalition administration by March 26.
Yesterday Mr Ahern said he believed it was a done deal, with all sides’ demands having been met.
“In the absence of any other item on the agenda, and I think no item on the agenda can come through now, the 26th in my view is fait accompli,” he told reporters in the US Capitol.
Mr McGuinness also said he was confident his party and Ian Paisley’s Democratic Unionists would be able to establish power-sharing.
“It now looks very, very likely to happen,” he said.
It is thought the British Treasury may stump up a €1.45bn financial package in return for the DUP signing up to power-sharing.
Mr Paisley and Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams both met British Prime Minister Tony Blair and UK Chancellor Gordon Brown on Wednesday to discuss the process.
At the White House, Mr Ahern will also discuss the plight of undocumented Irish immigrants in the US with the President.
Other items on the agenda include climate change.
Yesterday, the Taoiseach held talks with senior American politicians including Democratic Senators Hillary Clinton and Edward Kennedy and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Earlier in the week he met UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon in New York and laid a wreath at the Twin Towers Memorial Centre.
