Taoiseach confident over power-sharing deadline

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern expressed his belief that a power-sharing executive would be up and running by the March 26 deadline.

He welcomed this week’s comments by DUP leader Ian Paisley as very positive, and said a deal was within reach. “We are at the final stage of 10 years of this and we are within 10 days of an agreement,” he told guests at a luncheon hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.

“We are at a stage where people are being positive. Dr Paisley said some very positive things yesterday and I think people are up for it,” Mr Ahern said.

The Taoiseach took the opportunity to deliver a glowing tribute to British Prime Minister Tony Blair, saying: “Tony Blair did more for Northern Ireland than any other British Prime Minister since Gladstone.”

Mr Ahern is in the US for the traditional St Patrick’s Day festivities. He fulfilled a number of engagements in New York yesterday before travelling on to Washington for a fundraising dinner last night. He will meet with senior members of Congress on Capitol Hill today before visiting US President George W Bush at the White House tomorrow, where he will brief Mr Bush on the latest developments in the North.

Meanwhile, Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams last night claimed British ministers believe a power-sharing deal in the North is now within reach.

Speaking after a day of intensive talks in Downing Street, Mr Adams said: “There is a sense here this could be the real breakthrough. They know that. They can smell it.”