David Trimble has left Northern Ireland on a trip to France as he prepares to resign as First Minister. Mr Trimble is attending a commemoration of the Battle of the Somme. He imposed the 1 July deadline for his resignation unless the IRA begins to decommission its weapons before then.
With no sign of the Republicans giving up their guns, it seems inevitable that Mr Trimble will carry out his threat to quit by midnight tonight. The Canadian General John de Chastelain is due to hand over his latest assessment of progress on weapons decommissioning to the British government today.
The Trade and Enterprise Minister in the North, Sir Reg Empey, has said that he would carry out the functions of First Minister after Mr Trimble's resignation takes effect. It is understood this will enable meetings of the power-sharing executive to continue. However, Mr Trimble will still have to be re-elected First Minister, or a replacement agreed by the Assembly after six weeks.
Meanwhile, the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, said that the imminent resignation of Mr Trimble created even more difficulties in the North. Mr Ahern said that both himself and Tony Blair were in daily contact and hope to have another face-to-face meeting next week.
He admitted that it was not an easy situation but said that to allow a vacuum to be created at this time of the year would be the wrong thing to do. He also said that talks with the parties in the North would continue over the coming week.
