GABRIEL BYRNE was unveiled as Ireland’s first cultural ambassador to the United States as the White House was playing host to all things green for St Patrick’s Day.

PETER ROBINSON’s bid to face down unionist hardliners trying to block a deal on devolution with Sinn Féin was strengthened last night as he resumed the role of First Minister.

THE “turbulence” unleashed by the Robinson scandal must not stand in the way of an urgent deal on devolving justice powers to the North, Dublin and London last night insisted.

DUBLIN and London joined forces last night to try and stop power-sharing in the North unravelling in the wake of the sex and money scandals rocking Stormont.

The British Conservative Party is in talks with the Ulster Unionists about joining forces to create a new political movement in the North, it was revealed today.

THE wife of in-coming DUP leader Peter Robinson yesterday claimed the British government manufactured rumours he was violently abusive to her.

HOPES of a power-sharing deal in the North rose dramatically last night as Ian Paisley appeared unusually upbeat over a devolution breakthrough.

BRITISH Premier Tony Blair last night insisted there would be no backsliding on the North’s devolution deadline ahead of a crunch showdown with Ian Paisley.

“THINGS fall apart, the centre cannot hold, mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,” — well the fallout from the Belfast Assembly poll is not quite as bad as WB Yeats’s words suggest, but he was spot-on about the middle ground parties going south.

THE North plunged into a frantic round of political brinkmanship today as Dublin and London piled pressure on Rev Ian Paisley finally to cut a power-sharing deal in the wake of the Belfast Assembly poll.

DUBLIN and London piled maximum pressure on the DUP to cut a power sharing deal last night after ceasefire watchdogs delivered a glowing verdict on the IRA’s commitment to the peace process.

MOVES towards restoring power-sharing in the North lurched forward last night as Sinn Féin welcomed a pledge from British Prime Minister Tony Blair to separate MI5 from policing.

NORTHERN leaders were last night promised a multi-billion euro “sweetener” if they signed on for power-sharing.

Loyalists need to be given time and space to sort out their future direction following recent peace process moves by the IRA, Progressive Unionist leader David Irvine said today.

Ian Paisley conceded even more ground to republicans during the latest Northern Ireland peace negotiations than was in the Good Friday Agreement he vowed to smash, Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble claimed today.

Chief Constable Hugh Orde has damaged attempts to restore Northern Ireland’s power-sharing government by axing more than half his full-time reserve force, republicans warned today.

SINN FÉIN vowed yesterday to exhaust all avenues to kick-start the peace process despite the British Government working towards a unionist time-frame.

Sinn Féin chairman Mitchell McLaughlin claimed today it was unacceptable to allow Unionists to set the pace for the peace process.

Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams launched a strong attack on Northern Ireland’s First Minister and Ulster Unionist Chief David Trimble in Dublin today.