Ahern and Blair due for NI talks

Bertie Ahern and Tony Blair are due in Northern Ireland today for talks with political leaders as hardline unionists continued to demand the removal of Sinn Fein from the province’s power-sharing government.

Anti-Good Friday Agreement Ulster Unionist MP Jeffrey Donaldson stepped up pressure on Prime Minister Blair to exclude Sinn Fein from the Northern Ireland government over allegations of ongoing IRA activity.