Ahern and Hain say November deadline is written in stone

Foreign Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern and Northern Secretary Peter Hain have again warned unionists that the November 24 deadline for restoring devolution is written in stone.

The two men met in Hillsborough today to review progress in their latest initiative to get the power-sharing institutions back up and running.

The meeting was designed to prepare the ground for a visit to the North on Thursday by the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

That trip comes at a time of ongoing pessimism about the Irish and British governments' plan to restore devolution before the end of this year.

The two governments have given the Northern parties until November 24 to reach agreement on the matter.

However, the DUP says it doesn't recognise the deadline and wants the current "shadow Assembly" to continue indefinitely until it decides the time is right for sharing power with Sinn Féin.

Sinn Féin, on the other hand, says it has lived up to all its commitments and wants the two governments to stand up the DUP and make clear the consequences of further delay.

Speaking after their talks today, Mr Ahern and Mr Hain admitted that progress was painfully slow.

Mr Hain, however, said he believed the DUP was beginning to realise that the two Governments were serious about the November 24 deadline and that the onus to move was on unionists following the IRA's decision to decommission and end all activity.