Paisley is happy to make the most of a missed photo opportunity

IT looks doubtful at this stage that even Santa could deliver what Taoiseach Bertie Ahern wished for yesterday - that the deal on Northern Ireland could still be delivered by Christmas. This Christmas.

But he’s optimistic, especially as both sides were practically on the brink of an agreement before the intemperate intervention of the Reverend.

Both Bertie Ahern and British Prime Minister Tony Blair can take some consolation from the fact that if it wasn’t Paisley’s happy snaps that created the stumbling block, then it would have been something else.