BBC correspondent Mark Devenport: "Blair's reception in Belfast is likely to be abrasive"

Mr Blair is meeting representatives from the political parties involved in reaching the Good Friday agreement to discuss the legislative programme for the assembly.

The DUP want Mr Blair to "pay up" on his promises

He will also meet the Rev Ian Paisley's Democratic Unionists and the UK Unionists, who walked out of the negotiations last summer and campaigned for a No vote in the referendum.

The Prince of Wales has also arrived in Northern Ireland for public and private meetings with communities while Northern Ireland Secretary Mo Mowlam has addressed the province's Police Federation conference on the future of the RUC.

Peter Robinson, the deputy leader of the DUP says it is time for the prime minister to make good the pledges he made to secure a Yes vote.

He added: "With stunts like hand-written promises, many unionists were encouraged to vote for the deal."

Mr Blair is travelling to Belfast from Dublin, where he spent the night after meeting the Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern.

Mr Blair has been invited to speak in the Irish parliament

The meeting with his Irish counterpart was officially the latest stage in his trip around Europe in advance of the European heads of government summit in Cardiff later in the month, however the Northern Ireland peace process was high on the agenda.

Over a working dinner at Dublin Castle the two men reviewed the timetable for progress and discussed the violence which erupted over the weekend in the wake of a Junior Orange Order parade in Portadown, Co Armagh.

Mr Blair also made history by accepting an invitation to become the first UK politician to address the Irish parliament.