Ban on UK monarch marrying Catholic 'must be repealed'

British Prime Minister Tony Blair can boost the peace process in Northern Ireland by repealing a law which forbids the heir to the throne marrying a Catholic, it was claimed tonight.

In a draft paper on the review of the Good Friday Agreement, Green Party members in the North and the Republic of Ireland have argued that the 1701 Act of Settlement must be repealed because it is used to justify sectarianism towards Catholics.