Taoiseach to hold talks with Paisley in loyalist heartland

Bertie Ahern will today become the first Taoiseach to visit the Ian Paisley in his heartland.

In a further sign of his dramatically improved relationship with the Government, the North's First Minister, who once threw snowballs at Taoiseach Sean Lemass during a visit to Stormont in 1965, will host talks with Mr Ahern in Ballymena.

The meeting will also take place three months after the Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern visited the north Antrim town.

Mr Ahern and Mr Paisley are due to open a resort and spa.

A spokesman for the Taoiseach however said they would discuss other important matters.

"In Ballymena, Mr Ahern and Mr Paisley are expected to discuss political and economic developments in Northern Ireland and increasing cross-border co-operation with the Republic," he said.

The Fianna Fáil leader and the Democratic Unionist chief have developed a warm relationship since their first meeting at Government Buildings in Dublin in 2004.

That was followed by talks at the Irish Embassy in London as the Irish and British governments tried to secure a deal involving the DUP and Sinn Féin.

The dialogue continued in October 2006 when the outline of a political deal emerged in the form of the St Andrews Agreement.

At the end of the talks, the DUP leader was stunned when Mr Ahern presented him and his wife with a special walnut bowl, hewn from a tree at the site of the Battle of the Boyne, as a wedding anniversary gift.

The battle has huge significance for loyalists and is commemorated every July 12 with parades by the Protestant Orange Order.

However, after last March's historic deal between Sinn Féin and the DUP at Stormont, Mr Paisley travelled to Dublin's Farmleigh House for talks and their first handshake.

After the restoration of devolution, Mr Paisley as First Minister travelled to the Battle of the Boyne site in July and presented the Taoiseach with a 17th Century musket.

Mr Ahern and Mr Paisley will meet again next week at the Dublin Chamber of Commerce AGM where the First Minister has been invited as guest speaker.

Today's meeting will come at a time when question marks are being raised by political opponents on both sides of the border about each leader's future.

Mr Paisley, who turns 82 in April, has said he intends to see out his full term as First Minister but that has not stopped speculation that he may not see out his full term.

Mr Ahern, who fought his last General Election last May, has been under pressure regarding the investigation into his finances by the Mahon Tribunal.

The meeting will also take place as Fianna Fáil continues its consultation on both sides of the border over whether it should enter politics in the North and contest elections.