Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern has vowed that the so-called Stormontgate scandal will not hold up the peace process in the North.

Northern Secretary Peter Hain has ruled out a public inquiry into the so-called 'Stormontgate' scandal that led to the collapse of the North's power-sharing institutions more than three years ago.

A face-to-face meeting between Gerry Adams and the Rev Ian Paisley would be truly historic, Sinn Féin claimed tonight.

Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny is to hold historic talks with Democratic Unionist Party leader the Rev Ian Paisley in Belfast tomorrow.