British, Irish PMs meet over N. Ireland peace process

    LONDON, Nov. 28 (Xinhuanet) -- British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his Irish counterpart Bertie Ahern met in the Welsh capital city of Cardiff on Friday as the two-day vote counting for the election of the Northern Ireland Assembly reaches the final stages.     

    During their 45-minute talks, the two leaders reviewed Wednesday's poll and steps that could be taken to revive the assembly and the power-sharing and home-rule executive in the province.

    In a statement, Ahern said he always believed there should be an election and he was looking forward to working with the parties.     

    "We now have to find the path ahead...The principles and the value of the Good Friday Agreement do not change," said Ahern.

    The 1998 Good Friday peace accord "is an international agreement. It is not open for renegotiation... But it is open for review, and that review will shortly be put out for consultation once the elections are over," he said.

    Their respective governments were expected to start a further round of negotiations together with leaders of all of Northern Ireland's major political groups from this weekend.

    Four main parties dominate Northern Ireland. The Protestant Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP)are committed to keeping union with Britain while the Social Democratic and Labor Party (SDLP) and Sinn Fein want to unite with the Irish Republic.

    The DUP which campaigns against the 1998 accord is viewed as being much more radical than the UUP, while Sinn Fein, political wing of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), is also considered in the same light when compared with the SDLP.

    So far the DUP is maintaining its lead by winning at least 26 assembly seats, but the gap between the two main unionist parties is narrowing. Meanwhile, Sinn Fein has made gains at the expense of the moderate SDLP.

    Leaders of the four main parties had all been re-elected after topping the polls in their constituencies. They have agreed before the election that no matter what results come out from the election, there can be no going back to the 30 years of bloody sectarian strife.

    The final results of the elections are due Friday evening, with recounts barred.

    A four-year peace process brought into being a new assembly in the province in 1998 after a 25-year span, during which the province was under direct rule from London. The new assembly took over key powers and had a 12-member power-sharing ruling executive.

    But the assembly was once again suspended more than a year ago and the parties went into elections against the background of a deadlocked political process. As the result, the new assembly is not expected to convene for weeks or even for months. Enditem