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.