The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, may have an opportunity to discuss developments in Northern Ireland with the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, during a two-day visit to London, Frank Millar reports.
Mr Ahern arrives in London this morning ahead of a lunchtime engagement at the Irish Embassy, and will address a Mayo Association dinner this evening. Neither Downing Street nor the embassy could say whether Mr Ahern and Mr Blair were likely to meet before the Taoiseach's scheduled return to Dublin tomorrow.
However there appears no likelihood of any immediate resolution of the Northern Ireland stalemate. Despite Mr Ahern's public confidence about an early breakthrough, Sinn Féin and British sources say ongoing intensive talks are "nowhere near the point of definition" of a possible deal to allow the restoration of the Northern Assembly.