Full agenda for north-south meeting

Bertie Ahern and David Trimble meet in Armagh

Difficulties in the the peace process are likely to be discussed on the fringes of a North-South Ministerial Council on Friday.

The pro-Agreement parties and the Irish cabinet met in Armagh for the council's fourth meeting.

The agenda included the possible setting up of a cross-border parliamentary tier and the scrapping of the all-Ireland light house authority, Irish Lights, as a north-south body.

This was First Minister David Trimble's first meeting with Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern since he called for it to be made easier to exclude Sinn Fein from the Northern Ireland Executive over Colombia.

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There have been allegations the IRA was training left-wing guerillas in Colombia and that the paramilitary group has been compiling lists of potential targets in the judiciary and politicians.

However, Ulster Unionists said Mr Trimble would stick to the agenda for the day.

However, he may express his concerns to Mr Ahern on the margins of the meeting.

The UUP leader has denied newspaper reports that he intends to snub Mr Ahern at next week's talks between the British and Irish Governments and the pro-Agreement parties at Hillsborough.

Meanwhile, all Northern Ireland ministers, with the exception of the Democratic Unionist Party, will once again meet their Irish counterparts.

Also on the agenda will be meetings between the civic forum and its counterpart in the Irish Republic and a review of European Union issues.

Ministers have been considering extending areas of north-south co-operation.

At present, there are six implementation bodies set up under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement, but that figure could rise.

A budget of £54.7m was agreed for the north-south bodies for 2002 along with the setting up of a working group to consider the roles of Northern Ireland's power-sharing executive and the North-South Ministerial Council in relation to the European Union.