Bertie Ahern and Tony Blair are due at Stormont in the next 48 hours as efforts continue to overcome the decommissioning obstacle and form a new executive for the North by Friday's deadline. Today Gerry Adams said both sides should move together to make progress while David Trimble continued to maintain that the IRA must make the first move on decommissioning.
Earlier, Senator George Mitchell said that he would be prepared to get involved again, if that proved helpful. However, the former chairman of the Stormont talks said arms decommissioning will have to take place as part of the Good Friday Agreement. In a BBC television interview, Mr Mitchell said the only questions were how and in what sequence decommissioning would happen. He said he was confident the issue would be resolved, but he stressed that it was central to the agreement. The Senator was speaking on the eve of a renewed effort by the Northern parties to establish a Northern executive.
Today, the Taoiseach and the British Prime Minister made a joint appeal for the Northern parties to resolve their differences and agree on the establishment of a devolved government in Belfast. With the parties due to begin an intensive search for a settlement this week, Bertie Ahern and Tony Blair said the North stood on the brink of a new and better future. They said the prize was enormous but it must be shared, and there must be no winners or losers. Mr Ahern and Mr Blair are expected to take an active role in the final search for a settlement by the parties at Stormont this week.
