Leaders swoop in for crisis talks on North

CRISIS negotiations fuelled by a frantic diplomatic push, which saw the Taoiseach and his British counterpart rush to Belfast to try and prevent a collapse of power-sharing, spilled into a second tense day as both leaders dug in for a deal.

The gathering emergency threatening to smash the Belfast institutions apart forced Brian Cowen and Gordon Brown into the dramatic step of breaking off from a Downing Street summit to fly directly to Hillsborough and take charge of the unravelling situation yesterday evening.

The simmering row over delays in devolving policing and justice powers to Stormont finally exploded after a terse face to face showdown between DUP leader Peter Robinson and Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness.