Blair and Ahern plan peace process talks
British Prime Minister Tony Blair is to hold talks with Taoiseach Bertie Ahern this week in the latest drive on the Northern peace process.
The leaders’ meeting, at Downing Street on Wednesday, follows a series of intensive negotiations with all the major Northern political parties in a bid to break the current stalemate.
Between them, the two have met the leaders of all parties involved over the last couple of weeks – without the usual running commentary from either side.
Mr Blair’s official spokesman said today: “We are not going to give a running commentary this week, but equally nobody should underestimate how important a week we think this is.
“And nobody should mistake our silence for lack of activity, quite the reverse.”
The spokesman added: “We have been in very intensive discussions with all the major players and we will continue to be so.
“There is an awful lot of activity going on behind the scenes and sometimes our silence is in inverse proportion to how important and significant the issues are.”
But Downing Street warned against expecting any major announcement immediately following the two leaders’ discussions this week.
