Politics: Blair awaits call to become Ulster peace-broker

TONY BLAIR will go to Belfast next week to act as the peace-broker in Northern Ireland if Senator George Mitchell, chairman of the peace talks, calls the Prime Minister into their final stages.

With time running out for a peace settlement before the 9 April deadline, Downing Street sources last night said Mr Blair was ready to respond if the call came from Senator Mitchell.

"There is a desire to get this thing going. If he needs to get involved he will do," said the Prime Minister's spokesman.

Mr Blair's offer to take personal charge of the talks yesterday came as he engaged in a round of last-minute negotiations with party leaders, including Gerry Adams, the president of Sinn Fein, in an attempt to bridge the gap between the parties.

Differences remain over the nature and powers of the cross-border bodies, which the Unionists, led by David Trimble, are still resisting, and which the nationalists describe as indispensable to any new arrangements. Mr Blair held private talks with Mr Trimble over the weekend at Chequers and last night discussed the cross-border bodies with John Hume, the leader of the nationalist SDLP at Downing Street. The Prime Minister will tonight intensify the search for a peaceful settlement over a working dinner with Bertie Ahern, the Taoiseach.

Mr Blair is also seeking to narrow the gap between the Unionists and the nationalists over the powers of the Ulster assembly under strand one of the talks. Senator Mitchell is due to deliver a joint paper on the three strands on Friday for the final lap of the talks.

Officials emphasised that Mr Blair was not showing any lack of confidence in Mo Mowlam, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, by stepping up his involvement in Ulster.

Dublin sources said Mr Blair would go to Belfast if the differences between the sides had narrowed. "There is a lot of work to be done. The differences would have to be narrowed and it's too early to say that he will," said one source.

"If everyone knew the Prime Minister was going to be there, they may not try to narrow the gap at this stage."

Downing Street was also heartened by a survey in Ulster showing that 77 per cent of those polled were likely to vote "yes" in the referendum which is due to be held in May if the parties can agree a package for an assembly, north-south bodies, and the arrangements between the two governments. The survey by the independent Rowntree Trust showed wide support for a Belfast assembly, and backing for constitutional reform. It also showed that and 97 per cent of Protestants and 33 per cent of Catholics wanted to stay in the UK.

As the pace quickened yesterday in the run-up to the Stormont deadline, there was a flurry of meetings and contacts both in Belfast and in London.

Some of these were described as difficult, particularly in relation to the question of arrangements in the new Belfast assembly, and differences were highlighted on whether it should be run by a cabinet-style executive or by committees.