Historic breakthrough 'can be achieved'

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern last night expressed confidence that a historic breakthrough can still be achieved that would see the Democratic Unionist Party sharing power with Sinn Féin in restored institutions in the North.

But Mr Ahern added the ultimate call on whether or not an agreement would be possible would have to be made "within a matter or days" and also accepted that the restoration of devolved government may not occur as quickly as the Irish and British governments wish.

Hinting at the exhaustive and at times frustrating nature of the talks, he pointed out that the DUP and SF could not continue to pursue perfect deals in endless negotiations.

The Taoiseach was speaking in the wake of day-long negotiations in London, that saw both parties present their response to the "blue-print for progress" documents prepared jointly by the two governments.

The Taoiseach's relatively upbeat assessment indicated that he and British Prime Minister Tony Blair are still hopeful that devolved government may be possible by the May deadline.

Irish and British officials last night began work on responding in detail to issues raised by both parties yesterday, and also to clarifications that have been sought. The DUP is believed to have raised up to 40 points of clarification.

While no firm schedule or deadline has been imposed, it is expected that the governments will be in a position to respond by the weekend, raising the possibility of further intensive talks at the highest level early next week. The issues that have yet to be resolved are believed to relate to DUP demands for "visual" acts of decommissioning in addition to its reluctance to agree to the timetable set our for restoration of the Northern institutions, which would see the IRA complete decommissioning by March and an executive being selected next May.

Speaking to RTÉ last night, Mr Ahern said he believed that DUP leader Ian Paisley was committed to reaching agreement.

"I am absolutely confident, perhaps not within exactly the same timeframe or at the speed I would like, he basically wants to do that," he said.

Later, he said: "I have no doubt that Dr Paisley is of the mind if the circumstances are right and if the clarifications and the issues lead to - as he would see it - acts of completion, then he wants to move ahead."

He continued that allowing the timetable slip would create difficulties and a long vacuum.

Sinn Féin's Mitchell McLaughlin said his party had always viewed a deal as inevitable.

"The question is when. I don't think we have the answer to that yet," said Mr McLaughlin.