Taoiseach sets springtime target date for Assembly

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern last night signalled he aimed to have the North’s power sharing assembly up and running again in the first half of next year.

Mr Ahern expressed the hope as he met British Prime Minister Tony Blair in Downing Street for their first summit since the IRA decommissioned its arsenal last month. “If we can get that momentum then there is no reason in springtime why we should not be engaged in trying to bring back the institutions again,” Mr Ahern said.

The Taoiseach added that it was the first such Anglo-Irish meeting to be held that was not “in the shadow of the IRA’s guns”.