Ahern hears political concerns

Gerry Adams was among the leaders meeting the Irish Premier

The leaders of Northern Ireland's main pro-agreement parties have been setting out their positions on the deadlocked peace process to the Irish prime minister.

Bertie Ahern met Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble, Social Democratic and Labour Party leader John Hume and Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams in Dublin on Thursday.

The meetings focused on the issues threatening to destabilise the province's political institutions, namely policing, IRA decommissioning and demilitarisation.

Seamus Mallon and John Hume: Call for round table talks

Speaking after his meeting, Deputy First Minister Seamus Mallon of the SDLP said he believed the intensive talks of the past few weeks had run their course.

"It is my understanding that these negotiations have gone as far as they are going to go, unless there are changes from some of the political parties," he said.

"If that is the case they have got to be drawn to a closure and a meeting of all the political parties."

David Trimble said the failure of the republican movement to keep its promises was the "sole cause of the problem" in the peace process.

He said Ulster Unionists went back into the executive last year following promises made by republicans on decommissioning, but these were not kept.

"I am not prepared to listen to excuses from promise-breakers", he said.

However, Sinn Fein said responsibility for the current difficulties lay with the British Government and the unionists.

Gerry Adams again appealed for more radical reform of the RUC and end to the ban on Sinn Fein ministers attending North-South Ministerial Council meetings.

He added: "What I require from the other leaders is a sense that there would be sustainable change arising from all of this."

The most recent discussions followed weeks of intensive talks between the parties and the two governments.

Some of the parties fear that if progress is not made in resolving the issues soon, the assembly may have to be suspended, as attention turns to the General Election.

John Reid and Brian Cowen: Appealing to parties to gain consensus

Earlier, talks were held between the Northern Ireland Secretary John Reid and Irish Foreign Minister Brian Cowen.

The secretary of state appealed to the parties to work quickly to move forward "by consensus".

"We have made some progress, and we need to continue to do that quickly, because the prize is so great and the prospect of failing is so awful," said Mr Reid.

Mr Cowen said both governments were determined to move the process forward.

"We believe significant progress has been made and we want to be creative and see how we can move this process forward to the satisfaction of all," he added.

Police recruitment

Meanwhile, the RUC is seeking the views of its serving officers and full and part-time reserve, on their preferred design for headgear for the new service.

It is circulating a questionnaire on possible headgear options for various types of operational duties and has posted pictures on its web site.

On Wednesday, the Northern Ireland Office rejected a Sinn Fein claim that a government decision to begin recruitment to the new police service was illegal.

Recruitment to the new Police Service of Northern Ireland gets under way on Friday with the first of the television advertisements.

It is not thought there will be mention of the Royal Ulster Constabulary in the advertisements, which will carry salary details and telephone numbers on both sides of the border.