British government sources have denied that last week's decision to give the go ahead to the MOX plant at Sellafield was timed so that media attention was diverted by international events.
Downing Street has been facing accusations that its government advisers are releasing bad news stories during the Afghan crisis so that they get little coverage.
Last night the Taoiseach and Tony Blair discussed the controversial MOX decision on the phone. Downing Street says the prime minister explained the rationale behind it, Irish government sources say Mr Ahern expressed his disappointment.
However, today the row between Ireland and Britain took a new twist when Downing Street was forced to deny that the announcement of the MOX decision was timed to ensure that it got little or no coverage in the British press.
The Blair administration has for years faced accusations of spin doctoring, now there are claims that unpopular decisions or bad news stories are being released during this time of international turmoil in the hope that the receive little or no attention.
However, a Downing Street spokesman this morning denied this saying the normal business of making decisions and announcements goes on and that the MOX decision had to be considered anyway.
