Ahern and Mowlam say progress is being made on arms decommissioning issue

Both the Taoiseach and the Northern Secretary have said that progress is being made on the decommissioning issue.

Following a meeting in Government Buildings yesterday to review progress on the Belfast Agreement, Dr Mo Mowlam said she did not consider decommissioning to be a roadblock. "I consider that progress is being made because it is no longer a question of if decommissioning is going to take place. It is a question of when."

Mr Ahern said he wanted to reiterate what the Secretary of State had said. The argument on decommissioning was signed off in the agreement. "Now it is a question of when, and we have to get agreement on that," he said.

"We have to work out over the period when we can time these things out. That is something where there are differences, but we have to do that. We have to get decommissioning within the period of the agreement and, of course, the quicker we can get a resolution that is satisfactory to everyone on these issues the better."

Mr Ahern and Dr Mowlam spent a considerable part of yesterday's meeting talking about the North-South bodies. It is understood that the necessary technical and administrative work was put in train for the coming weeks.

The east-west relationship was also discussed, particularly in view of indications from the British-Irish Parliamentary Body, meeting in York, that the preparatory arrangements should proceed.

The areas where progress could be made to surmount difficulties surrounding the formation of the shadow Executive were a focal point of the meeting. "We believe that, like everything else we have done in the agreement, we can make progress on that," Mr Ahern said. "I think we can make substantial progress in the weeks immediately ahead."