Time for peace, if there's time

EVEN by the standards of Anglo-Irish diplomacy it was an extraordinary four days. Britain and Ireland may have been embroiled in the biggest public rift of Tony Blair's leadership, but the British premier also had other things on his mind, as prime ministers from a host of Asian countries jetted into London for the EU Asia summit in London.

The real work of the last two days - which will decide the fate of the Northern Ireland peace process - took place between meetings with Asian leaders, before banquets at Number 10 and Buckingham Palace and ahead of the England-Ireland rugby match at Twickenham.

The countdown to this week's endgame did not start promisingly. On Wednesday night, just before the summit began, Mr Ahern and three of his officials sat down for dinner in Downing Street for one of the stickiest ever meetings between the two men. The Irish prime minister had already warned publicly about the dangers of the process failing and of the "large disagreements" between the two sides. Three hours later, at 11.30pm, he seemed little more optimistic.

The Irish premier returned to Dublin, arriving in the early hours of the morning. On Thursday there were a series of public engagements and, at Mountjoy Garda station, the Irish premier was again forthright, declaring: "Others have to make the moves. The Irish Government will not be moving any further."

But Mr Ahern was back in London that afternoon at 5.30 for a reception to launch Powerhouse UK, the exhibition of British design just off the Mall. Twice he and Mr Blair broke away from the diplomatic circuit to convene in the study at Downing Street. The first occasion lasted just 10 minutes without officials present. The two premiers then went straight to a dinner for the Asian heads of government at Number 10. After dessert, the two men returned to Mr Blair's study for a full meeting focused on the detail of the north-south structures.

With the ASEM conference in full swing, Friday provided a chance for only brief conversations When events drew to a close at around 6pm there was a formal meeting lasting about 40 minutes, but not enough progress to allow Senator Mitchell to complete his joint paper, which had been due to be put to the parties on Friday night. The two premiers broke the news in a three-way telephone call with the senator. Then it was off to Buckingham Palace for another official dinner.

As Asian leaders prepared to depart there was a final meeting before the two leaders went their separate ways: Mr Blair to chair a final press conference, Mr Ahern to the rugby international at Twickenham - where Ireland lost.

So, are the two governments at a real impasse? We have been here before. One senior British official once confided that, if the two governments agreed to deals too long before a public announcement, the resulting paperwork tended to seep into partisan hands on both sides - with the danger that all that careful diplomatic work would begin to unravel.

No party wants to be blamed for destroying the process. Unionists realise that mainland British opinion will harden against them if they are perceived to be blocking peace. Even Sinn Fein could face international isolation if it rejects a workable deal. Fear of taking the blame for failure could still be the best hope for peace.

David Trimble, Section 2, page 3 Leading article, Section 2, page 4