The Prime Minister, Tony Blair, has said agreement on the outline of a settlement for Northern Ireland is "agonisingly close".

Tony Blair says all parties must discuss the details of an agreement (0'29")

He was speaking after a meeting in Downing Street with the Sinn Fein president, Gerry Adams.

"We are agonisingly close to agreeing the framework or outline of a settlement. We've obviously got to get the detail right too," Mr Blair said.

Tony Blair: "Violence and talks are incompatible"

Mr Blair also insisted that the effective deadline for a settlement by Easter would be met.

"I'm still optimistic, maybe stubbornly optimistic, that we can get to that deadline, provided there's the goodwill there for people to negotiate," he said.

"For the time that Sinn Fein have been out of the talks, we've been pressing on and getting the parties to talk about the details of the settlement."

Mr Blair also dismissed the idea that all sides were not trying hard enough. "People are giving but the difficulty is people are always a little bit unwilling to declare their full hand before they've seen what everyone else's hand is."

As he emerged from the talks at Number 10, Gerry Adams gave a strong hint that the republicans would return to the talks process soon.

Gerry Adams discusses his meeting with Tony Blair (2'49")

Mr Adams said his own view was that republicans should rejoin the Stormont talks "at the earliest possible opportunity".

But he said he would have to consult with other members of the Sinn Fein leadership over the next few days before any decision was taken.

Mr Adams and the delegation face reporters after the meeting

Observers do not doubt they will return, probably on March 23, after leaders of all the Northern Ireland parties return from President Clinton's St Patrick Day celebrations in the White House.

Sinn Fein were temporarily expelled from the process last month after the RUC linked two killings to the IRA.

They could have returned on Monday, but in what was seen as a largely symbolic gesture, they insisted on a meeting with the Prime Minister before committing themselves to going back.

Following his meeting with Mr Blair, Mr Adams left immediately for the United States to join the party's chief negotiator Martin McGuinness.

He said that republicans remained committed to securing a lasting settlement for Northern Ireland.

"We certainly want to see an agreement reached as quickly as possible," he said.

Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble voices his concerns over Sinn Fein's possible re-entry to the peace talks (22")

Mr Blair is also due to meet Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble and he is hoping to discuss the situation with Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern at a meeting of European leaders in London.

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