Hain To Hold Talks With Dermot Ahern

The British government has confirmed that the Secretary of State Peter Hain will be meeting with Dermot Ahern, the Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs.

At the talks the two governments are expected to discuss issues surrounding the implementation of the St. Andrews Agreement and ways of ensuring the acceptance of the agreement by the political parties in the North.

On Monday, Mr Hain also surprised many observers when he openly admitted that the economy of the North was "not sustainable in its present form."

Speaking at the British Irish inter-parliamentary body meeting in Belfast, Mr. Hain gave a harsh assessment of the current economic state saying that "It's got far too small a private sector, far too bureaucratic and bloated in its administrative public sector."

He also hinted at wide-ranging changes in the future, especially in regards to education reform, which was needed because, "We've got enormously wasteful educational provision, with segregation and separation imposing huge costs and waste of tens of millions of pounds."