BRITAIN: Mr Tony Blair's expected arrival in Belfast as early as this morning will reinforce Downing Street's message that he is back at "full throttle" and has suffered no damage following his heart scare.
The British Prime Minister received a string of visitors and chaired a series of meetings yesterday despite doctors' advice to rest for 24 hours following his treatment on Sunday for an irregular heartbeat.
Having presided over the daily Downing Street strategy meeting at 9 a.m., Mr Blair had discussions with cabinet secretary Sir Andrew Turnbull, before telephone talks with the Taoiseach, Mr Bertie Ahern, about the developing negotiation between the Ulster Unionists and Sinn Féin.
And while Number 10 refused to comment on his travel plans, Mr Blair's expected journey to Belfast - hopefully to sign-off on a new agreement paving the way for Stormont Assembly elections - signals a busy week scheduled to include the weekly audience of Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace this evening; Prime Minister's Questions in the Commons tomorrow; and a speech on the public services, followed by Thursday's cabinet meeting, the regular monthly press conference and a regional tour.
Against a backdrop of some morbid media coverage, and renewed speculation about how long Mr Blair might now wish to remain in the post, Downing Street's insistent message yesterday was that it really was "business as usual" and that the Prime Minister was "fit, fine, in good spirits and 100 per cent recovered".
Mr Blair (50), was taken to London's Hammersmith Hospital after complaining of chest pains while at his Chequers residence. Doctors diagnosed supra ventricular tachycardia, a condition which causes heartbeat irregularities and shortness of breath. They sedated and treated him, and advised him to rest for 24 hours.
The Queen, the Deputy Prime Minister, Mr John Prescott, and the cabinet secretary were all informed of Mr Blair's admission to hospital but he did not receive an anaesthetic and there was no issue of a formal hand-over of power.
Dr Duncan Dymond, consultant cardiologist at Barts Hospital in London told the BBC: "In the grand scheme of things it's a fairly minor condition - high in nuisance value but low in gravity. It can be very frightening for people when it happens, particularly when they don't know what it is."
Suggesting that Mr Blair should have a couple of days' rest, Dr Dymond said: "It's by no means set in stone that he will have another attack and there's no real reason for him to stop playing tennis or stop being Prime Minister based on this."
His official spokesman, Mr Tom Kelly, who was one of the first to see the Prime Minister yesterday said: "I have seen him . . . and I have to say, if I hadn't known that he had been in hospital, I wouldn't have known from seeing him this morning." He continued: "The Prime Minister is somebody who looks after himself well . . . He's getting on with the job and his appetite for the job is the same today as it was this time last week."