Downing St summit for Blair and Ahern

Prime Minister Tony Blair and Taoiseach Bertie Ahern tonight agreed to hold a Downing Street summit next week in a bid to break the deadlock in the Ulster peace process.

The two leaders met for private talks after an EU summit dinner in Gothenburg, Sweden as Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble faced mounting criticism from within his own party over his stance on the Good Friday Agreement.

Mr Blair’s official spokesman said the two leaders had met for more than an hour to discuss the latest impasse in Ulster and added: ‘‘The discussion focused almost entirely on the peace process.

‘‘Clearly there continued to be difficulties but there remains a commitment from both Prime Ministers to move the process forward.

‘‘They agreed to meet next Monday in Downing Street after which there will be further discussions next week.’’

It is understood those further discussions will involve foreign minister Brian Cowan.