Breakthrough or deadlock?

Intense discussions continue at Hillsborough Castle today – with British PM Tony Blair cancelling a date with the Queen to stay in Northern Ireland. Mr Blair and Irish PM Bertie Ahern were due to update the press around now, but instead are reported to be joining the pro-agreement parties in round table talks, starting at 6 pm. We may hear a statement from the PMs around 7 pm.

So what�s going on? Rumours from Hillsborough suggest a breakthrough is in the air. Intriguingly, there are suggestions that the May 1st elections may be postponed � maybe to late May or early June. Presumably this is intended to give the pro-agreement lobby time to sell a �success� to the electorate. A delay may be good for Sinn Fein, too, as the expected �major move� from the IRA is likely to further increase their appeal to moderate nationalist voters…

Earlier in the day, key figures were playing down expectations, with David Trimble saying that that he expected the talks to �peter out� without resolution. So be warned: the current mood could easily reverse once more.

Mick has spent the day in talks off his own – at Stormont – and heads over to canvass unionist opinion in Portadown tonight. Normal blogging service will resume tomorrow, though.

Mick Fealty

Mick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty