Ahern to Paisley: I'm sorry

BERTIE AHERN last night personally apologised to DUP leader Ian Paisley over an extraordinary gaffe suggesting he no longer thought the Government's position on decommissioning was "workable".

In an unprecedented move, the Taoiseach telephoned the DUP leader shortly after 5pm to explain that the sentiments he expressed yesterday morning did not represent his own position, but were a reflection of the views expressed to him by the Sinn Féin leadership. Mr Ahern, after the meeting with SF in St Luke's yesterday morning, said: "We tried the issue of photographs. That is not workable. We have to try and find another way." However, the Government spokeswoman said last night that Mr Ahern had left one sentence out of the comments: that these were the views of Sinn Féin and not of the Irish Government.

The Taoiseach's apology helped diffuse a rapidly developing crisis that, at one stage, seemed to have scuppered any hope of an early breakthrough.