The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, will have talks with the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, in Downing Street this afternoon as the two governments take stock of the Stormont negotiations.
Following a short meeting on the fringes of the EU summit in Brussels last night, both agreed that a further meeting was needed to review positions in light of the deadlock in the talks. The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ms Liz O'Donnell, and the Northern Ireland Secretary, Dr Mo Mowlam, will attend the meeting.
With few signs of any progress in the talks yesterday, London played down the possibility that the Mr Blair would travel to Belfast later this week to take part in the negotiations. A Downing Street spokesman commented: "The Prime Minister has got a lot on his plate and we are at the stage now where it's up to the parties to make some progress. It is for the parties themselves to come up with suggestions. If they don't like the suggestions on the table, they can come up with their own."
In the Commons, the government again rejected Conservative demands to halt the early release of paramilitary prisoners until decommissioning had begun. The Deputy Prime Minister, Mr John Prescott, standing in for Mr Blair during Question Time, reminded the Tories that the bipartisan approach at Westminster included the endorsement of the Belfast Agreement, and that, in turn, had established the early release scheme.
Earlier, UUP MP Mr William Thompson asked Mr Prescott if he had the "grace" to acknowledge that those who were opposed to the Belfast Agreement and had warned that paramilitaries would never give up their weapons had been proved right. The rejection of the Hillsborough Declaration by Sinn Fein on Tuesday had "confirmed their fears".
Emphasising that the majority of people in Northern Ireland wanted to see agreement, Mr Prescott said it was not helpful to cast doubt on whether that could be achieved this week. "The people in Northern Ireland desperately want to see an end to the spectre of violence that has plagued them for so long. As the Northern Ireland Secretary, Mo Mowlam, has made clear, we can all defend our corners and say `I told you so', but frankly that has dominated the language and debate in Ireland for far too long."