The Northern Ireland Secretary, Mo Mowlam, has announced that she will hold an urgent round of meetings with leaders of all the main political parties in Belfast, starting on Monday.

The meetings come in advance of the resumption of the Northern Ireland peace negotiations on January 12.

After a meeting with RUC Chief Constable Ronnie Flanagan, she said: "The situation now is serious, but it is not out of control.

"We always knew that there could be difficulties. We have had setbacks before and we have overcome them. We do so again with the support and cooperation of politicians and others committed to democracy.

"The mood of the people in Northern Ireland is for progress and for a move forward. Despite the difficulties we have certainly not moved so far backwards that people cannot respond, stop the drift and ensure that the talks process can continue."

Dr Mowlam added: "We have to be strong enough to move the majority of the mainstream of this community forward despite what rogue elements on the edges want to achieve."

At the meeting with Chief Constable Flanagan, it was also confirmed that police patrols had been stepped up in response to three sectarian murders in the last week in Northern Ireland.

Dr Mowlam also resisted new demands for her to resign over the deepening crisis.
 

Back to top | BBC News Home | BBC Homepage	©