The British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, has described his latest round of talks with the North's political parties as worthwhile, and has said he is convinced the political will exists to reach agreement.
"I think that political will does exist, but there are still some very tough issues that need to be sorted out," Mr Blair said after concluding more than 10 hours of negotiations since Wednesday night. Yesterday he met Sinn Fein, the DUP, Alliance and the Women's Coalition representatives. The US envoy, Mr Jim Steinburg, and Irish Government officials were also present at Hillsborough Castle.
"I have satisfied myself very clearly that the political will exists. We just have to find the ways to get over these remaining problems," Mr Blair said. He would speak later to the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, and the President Clinton. "I think it's been a worthwhile day, and some progress has been made," he said.
Speaking after his party's discussions with Mr Blair, the Sinn Fein president, Mr Gerry Adams, said it had been "a long day of intense and very frank exchanges". No great progress had been achieved, he said. However, all sides now had a very clear understanding of everyone else's positions.
Monika Unsworth adds: The Ulster Unionist Party leader, Mr David Trimble, has called on republicans to stop delaying political progress in Northern Ireland. Addressing a meeting of the pro-agreement UUP grouping, Re-Union, at Hillsborough last night, Mr Trimble said republicans needed to "see the bigger picture".
"The longer republicans delay, the more damage they inflict on the agreement. They should see . . . that the real problem with the agreement is that 45 per cent of the unionist community did not support it in the referendum and remain sceptical about it."
He said his party's ban which prevented Sinn Fein ministers from attending North/South Ministerial Council meetings put paid to republican claims that unionists no longer had a veto. "By excluding Sinn Fein from North/South meetings we are hurting them significantly because we are proving to them that there is a unionist veto."
He said he was confident the High Court, which is due to rule on a Sinn Fein challenge to the ban in the coming days, would find in the UUP's favour.
As to unionist demands on the IRA to re-engage with Gen de Chastelain's decommissioning body, Mr Trimble said nothing short of a "serious reengagement" would suffice.
One of the UUP's political researchers, Mr Alex Kane, said that if unionists did not relinquish their obsession with majority rule and cease bickering, their fate would be "electoral oblivion".
He said the average vote for unionist parties had fallen by around 65,000 in the last 30 years while the electoral register had increased by about 170,000 over the same period.