Cowen calls for elections in North

A CALL for early elections for a new Northern Ireland Assembly was made yesterday by Minister Brian Cowen.

Delivering the annual John Hume Lecture at the MacGill Summer School in Co Donegal, the Minister for Foreign Affairs said early elections were essential to the peace process.

"My fear is that if we do not move to elections, the alternative will be continued stalemate and the steady leaching away of optimism."