Ahern and Blair to discuss outcome of North election

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, and British prime minister Tony Blair are due to discuss the outcome of the North's Assembly election today.

The two leaders will hold talks on the fringes of an EU summit in Brussels to discuss the prospects for restoring devolution on March 26th.

It remains unclear if the DUP will commit itself to sharing power with republicans by that date.

The unionist party is continuing to insist that Sinn Féin must prove its commitment to the rule of law before it will agree to enter any power-sharing Executive.

The British government has vowed to scrap devolution if a power-sharing deal is not reached by March 26.

However, there is speculation that it may agree to some kind of fudge that would see ministers being nominated by that date, but not taking up their jobs for a number of months.