(29 Jun 1999) English/Nat

The attempt to salvage the Good Friday Agreement on Northern Ireland resumed in Belfast on Tuesday.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Irish Taoiseach (prime minister) Bertie Ahern and the leaders of local parties are struggling to find a deal before midnight on Wednesday night.

The agreement to set up an all-party government body for Northern Ireland - replacing rule from London - has foundered on the reluctance of the paramilitary organisations to disarm

As the British and Irish prime ministers arrived for the talks they stressed that a deal could still be struck - but warned that the gun would have to be removed from Irish politics.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"We know this is going to be a very busy day for all of us and it could stretch into the night and we're up for it. We think this is absolutely essential now that all the political leaders buckle down for the hard work of bridging this impasse and bringing it forward."
SUPER CAPTION: Martin McGuinness, Sinn Fein negotiator

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"I don't think that anyone can understand the formidable difficulties that we face. But we've been here before and we've done it before and we can do it again. I don;t have any doubt about that at all. We've got to know two things very very clearly indeed - the first is that there is a coimitment by everyone as there is by us to set up all the institutions of the Good Friday Agreement, so the whole thing is there and properly implemented. And secondly we have to know that the gun is really going to be taken out of Irish politics, that the weapons are really going to go in the way that the Good Friday agreement determines and in the way we are committed to doing."
SUPER CAPTION: Tony Blair, British Prime Minister

SOUNDBITE: (English)
(speaking about the two elements of the agreement - the new body and decomissioning)
"We have to make sure that arms and guns and bombs and all that goes with that is finished. If we can do that I think we can build trust, we can build confidence."
SUPER CAPTION: Bertie Ahern, Irish Prime Minister (Taoiseach)

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