UK, Irish Leaders Meet to Restore N. Ireland Peace Process

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, September 14, 2003

UK, Irish Leaders Meet to Restore N. Ireland Peace Process

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British Prime Minister Tony Blair met with his Irish counterpart Bertie Ahern on Saturday to discuss measures to revive Northern Ireland's power-sharing government andlead to fresh assembly elections in the province.

The two leaders discussed held talks at Blair's rural residence Chequers near London, as a result of a week of private contacts between the key players in the peace process.

There is a growing speculation among local analysts that fresh elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly might be called in the next couple of months.

British and Irish sources have played down the chances of any major announcement after the meeting, with neither prime minister scheduled to make a public statement. Meanwhile, republicans in the province warned time was running out for a deal to be reached.

Also on Saturday Sinn Fein chief negotiator Martin McGuinness said Blair had to make a decision in the next two to three weeks.

After a meeting of Sinn Fein leaders in Dublin, McGuinness said republicans were frustrated by the slow progress in resolving the current impasse, according to a BBC report.

On Thursday, Blair's chief of staff Jonathan Powell met with Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams in Belfast, and it is understood he met with Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble earlier this week.

These meetings were reportedly concerned with pledges by the governments to press ahead with their joint declaration, unionists providing reassurances that they would work any devolved institutions once they are restored and republicans providing more confidence building gestures to prove their commitment to nonviolent politics.

Britain restored direct control of the province last year afterits fragile four-party consensus collapsed in a row over an alleged IRA spying ring at the heart of the power-sharing government in Belfast.

London has also twice canceled the provincial elections, which were originally set for May, arguing a political settlement must come first to ensure a post-election administration would work.

Local analysts say the relatively peaceful "marching season" in Belfast this summer has raised hopes of a deal in the next few weeks leading to new elections around November.

Northern Ireland has been plagued by three decades of politicaland sectarian violence between Protestants committed to keeping the union with Britain and Catholics who want to end it and unite with the Irish Republic.

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