What the papers say

Journalist Keith Baker takes a look at what is making the headlines in Monday's morning newspapers.

A couple of opinion polls this morning, one in the News Letter and one in the Irish Times.

The News Letter says that with the assembly dissolved and the election postponed, it decided to step into the breach and find out what people really think about the current crisis.

One factor screams from the poll, it says - a move to IRA disbandment would utterly transform the landscape.

The paper says unionist support for the agreement started out at 55% in the '98 referendum.

Today, it claims, that stands at 27% but it would shoot up to 57% if the IRA even stated that it would never again use its weapons.

And if it were to disband altogether that figure would reach 76%.

According to the Irish Times poll, 45% of people in the republic think the IRA is not clear on whether it intends to end all paramilitary activity.

Unionists 'blamed' most

Nevertheless, the survey indicates that just 15% of voters there blame the republican movement for the breakdown in recent talks.

The Unionist Party seems to be blamed more than anyone else.

The paper says it's difficult to decipher the rationale in these results.

And it notes that the poll was conducted last Monday and Tuesday when the confusing allegations about Stakeknife were at their height.

And the Stakeknife saga itself grinds on. The Irish News gives its main headlines to the Metropolitan Police raid on the home of the double agent known as Kevin Fulton.

The paper says they may be looking for evidence that he is the one who leaked the name of Freddie Scappaticci.

After a week of intense media speculation, it says this is the first confirmed intervention by police in the affair.

The Mirror has a revelation of its own. It claims that when Bertie Ahern comes to Northern Ireland for talks he wears a bullet proof vest.

A source tells the paper that you can always tell when he's wearing it because his tie is askew and he appears uncomfortable, although the source notes that he can look a bit bulky at the best of times.

'Relaxed' IDS

Which brings us to Iain Duncan Smith who's interviewed in the Guardian.

He's worried about his weight but not much else, it seems.

According to the paper, he's relaxed and cheerful these days.

The nervous, blinking Mr Cough has gone and instead there is a man at ease with himself.

The Mail turns its wrath on Peter Hain - Minister of Arrogance, it calls him after his remarks that campaigners for a referendum on Europe might as well put away their placards and stop wasting their money.

And in the Times, former Culture Secretary Chris Smith becomes the latest ex-minister to accuse Tony Blair of being out of touch.

In an interview, he says Mr Blair has never been part of the heart and soul of the Labour movement.

Causeway question

He attacks the government for stifling debate on the euro and suggests that when he was in office, he wanted to pull the plug on the Millennium Dome but the prime minister stopped him.

Anyway, here's a question for you: Is the Giant's Causeway linked to the island of Staffa in the Hebrides?

The Irish News reports that - according to the producers of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? - it is.

But Stewartstown man Paddy Herron, who was a contestant on the programme, says it isn't.

The paper says a host of Irish academics are backing Mr Herron's view and even the staff at the Causeway visitors' centre have written to the programme in support.

The paper speculates that the result of the debate could yet pave the way for him to have a crack at the big prize.