Downing Street Says » Northern Ireland

» Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Northern Ireland

The Prime Minister has had a further series of meetings in Belfast today. First he met with the Taoiseach, then he and the Taoiseach met with the Sinn Fein leadership, and then separately with the DUP leadership. There were further such meetings after lunch. The Prime Minister has kept in touch with all the key political players in Northern Ireland throughout the day.

The PM remains determined to make progress. Discussions with the parties continue to be frank, but there is spirit of openess and a shared sense of the importance of working towards an agreement.

There are further meetings this afternoon. We will keep you updated as talks progress.

Asked if there was any possibility that the Prime Minister would miss PMQs tomorrow, the Prime Minister’s Spokesman (PMS) told the assembled press that we would keep people posted as the talks continued this afternoon.

Asked what role Hillary Clinton would be playing in the negotiations, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had had a telephone conversation with Hillary Clinton this afternoon. They discussed and took stock of the progress being made and the need to reach an agreement.

Asked if the Prime Minister thought that the talks the Conservatives had had with the DUP and the UUP had been damaging, the PMS referred people to her political colleagues.

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