Hope For Progress At Hopetoun House

Stormont leaders are meeting for intergovernmental talks in Edinburgh, today (Friday), with hopes for progress in the current Northern Ireland deadlock over the devolution of policing and justuce on the agenda.

The British-Irish Council is at Hopetoun House, (pictured) a stately home outside Edinburgh.

In a positive sign, NI's First and Deputy First Ministers, Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness arrived together at the political summit.

They have been at odds amid difficulties in the Stormont Executive, but the two men turned up by car at the event together.

Set up under the Good Friday Agreement, the Council's aim is to promote good relations between island communities.

Among those attending are political leaders from the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man.

Taoiseach Brian Cowen is making his first official visit to Scotland for the event and was greeted by Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond who said it was a "fantastic opportunity to co-operate".

The Council is made up of the British and Irish governments together with the Scottish and NI devolved governments, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.

But until the very last minute, there was uncertainty over whether Sinn Fein and the DUP would even show up, due to their current disagreement.

However, the eventual decision to attend is seen as representing hope for progress on the controversial issues of policing and justice, along with a number of other issues.

The controversal powers were due to be transferred last May, but was blocked by the DUP, claiming more time is needed to gain confidence in the IRA's future intentions.

The recent findings by the Independent Monitoring Commission, said "the Army Council by deliberate choice is no longer operational or functional", but the DUP remain concerned that the council has not been officially disbanded.

It has now also emerged that the NI Assembly Committee reviewing progress on the devolution of policing and justice has been forced to call-off a planned meeting - because none of the parties responded to a request for their views on the issue.

Earlier this month, the Assembly and Executive Review Committee wrote to all the parties seeking their views on the issue.

It had planned to meet next week to discuss the replies and will not now be doing so.

(DW/JM)