Ahern and Blair meet today to try to spark process

The Taoiseach and the British Prime Minister are meeting today in Downing Street for fresh talks on the peace process.

The Taoiseach and the British Prime Minister are meeting today in Downing Street for fresh talks on the peace process.

Bertie Ahern
The Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern

Officials say Mr Ahern and Mr Blair wanted to "take stock" of the process which has become deadlocked.

Weapons decommissioning, British demilitarisation and policing reform are the three stumbling blocks.

Tony Blair
British Prime Minister, Tony Blair

A Downing Street spokesman said that while there had been some progress on the three issues more needed to be done if they were to move the process forward successfully.

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He said: "Progress is slow. There is a lot of detail to work through and the Prime Minister and the Taoiseach want to take stock of where we are. They are both determined to try to move forward."

PA