Election plans 'need finalised'

Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern received a prize in the US

Time is running out if fresh assembly elections are to be held in Northern Ireland before Christmas, the Irish prime minister has warned.

Bertie Ahern told an American audience that both republicans and unionists would have to compromise if a deal was to be brokered which could see the restoration of the political institutions.

Northern Ireland's devolved administration was suspended last October amid allegations of IRA intelligence gathering in the Stormont government.

Assembly elections were postponed in May but there is speculation that a fresh poll will be called before Christmas.

Mr Ahern was speaking after he and UK Prime Minister Tony Blair were honoured at the University of Connecticut for their role in advancing the Northern Ireland peace process.

Mr Ahern said plans for elections to the Stormont Assembly needed to be finalised by mid-October.

"Now is the time for all sides to take the final steps to make this agreement complete - the government, unionists, nationalists," he said.

"The republican movement must make it clear in a way that convinces unionists and all of us that paramilitary activity, as previously set out by both governments, is at an end for good.

Now is the time for all sides to take the final steps to make the Agreement complete - governments, unionists, nationalists and republicans Tony Blair

"At the same time, unionists must reassure nationalists that they're fully committed to all of the Good Friday institutions and that they will participate in a full and sustained way."

Mr Blair and Mr Ahern received the Thomas J Dodd Prize in International Justice and Human Rights for their role in the development of the Good Friday Agreement.

Mr Blair was represented by Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, who read out a letter from the prime minister praising the decline in violence on the streets of Belfast over the summer.

"That did not happen by accident. It was the result of a conscious effort on all sides," Mr Blair said.

"And that is partly why I believe that now is the time for all sides to take the final steps to make the Agreement complete - governments, unionists, nationalists and republicans."

Meanwhile, further discussions are to take place between the Sinn Fein and Ulster Unionist leaders as part of a series of talks to broker a deal to revive the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Agenda for peace

Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams confirmed on Wednesday that he would hold more talks with David Trimble but would not say when these would take place.

Mr Trimble and Mr Adams held their third face-to-face meeting in recent weeks on Tuesday.

Mr Adams said the talks had been "in many ways, the most important part of a network of discussions" on the political process.

Mr Trimble did not make any comment after Tuesday's talks.

He also met Ulster Unionist Party officers to discuss internal divisions over the recent British/Irish joint declaration.

The Good Friday Agreement was forged in 1998 and set out an agenda for bringing peace to Northern Ireland.

Despite suffering setbacks such as the recent collapse of the power-sharing Assembly at Stormont - the accord has been seen as a significant advance in the Northern Ireland peace process.