Taoiseach to meet Northern parties

The Taoiseach will meet the SDLP and Sinn Féin for separate talks this weekend to try to push the peace process forward.

Efforts are continuing to persuade the IRA to go further in its response to the British and Irish governments' joint declaration, whose publication was postponed on Thursday.

Sinn Féin and its leader, Gerry Adams, are angry that Irish Government sources are blaming the IRA for the deadlock and say the two governments should go ahead and publish their document.

Meanwhile, the US special envoy to Ireland, Richard Haass, is still in Belfast trying to make progress and has appealed to Sinn Féin to persuade the IRA to go the extra mile, warning that time was running out.