It's good news that the council is up and running because it's a further indication that the process of change is working

Tony Blair

Also on the agenda was Irish health and environmental concerns over the Sellafield nuclear re-processing plant in Cumbria, with both leaders apparently agreeing to disagree over the issue.

Mr Blair and Mr Ahern also issued an appeal to senior members of the Ulster Unionist Party, holding a crucial meeting this weekend, not to impose a fresh deadline for IRA decommissioning.

With a later meeting of the north-south ministerial council between the British and Irish only, it is the first time both institutions have operated since a ban on Sinn Fein ministers attending cross-border meetings was lifted.

The first such meeting was in London in December 1999, but plans for follow-up sessions had to be postponed because the Northern Ireland peace process stalled.

Peace process 'working'

Progress was regained by last month's decision by the IRA to begin decommissioning.

At a news conference after the talks, Mr Blair said: "Obviously it's good news that the council is up and running because it's a further indication that the process of change is working, that the peace process in Northern Ireland is being taken forward, whatever the difficulties.

"As we constantly say, the peace process offers the only sensible and viable solution for the future, not just for people in Northern Ireland, but for all the people of these islands."

He said there were "interesting lessons" for legislation currently going through the UK parliament from Irish experience of tackling organised crime and its proceeds.

Sellafield fears

On Sellafield's proposed new mixed oxide (Mox) plant - to which the Irish are bitterly opposed - Mr Blair said that although he entirely understood Dublin's concerns, the UK would proceed as planned, according to the vigorous safety standards in place.

He expressed hope the two sides could disagree "in a sensible way" on the issue.

Last week Mr Ahern's Fianna Fail party placed a full-page advertisement in the Times, outlining its opposition to the Mox project.

Dublin has already signalled its intention to take legal action against the facility and backed other courtroom moves to get it stopped.

Round The Table

British PM Tony Blair Irish PM Bertie Ahern NI Secretary John Reid Irish Deputy PM Mary Harney NI First Minister David Trimble NI Deputy First Minister Mark Durkan Scottish First Minister Jack McConnell Welsh First Minister Rhodri Morgan

Friday's summit in Dublin comes a day before a meeting of the 860-member Ulster Unionist Council in Belfast at which, it is thought, hardliners could try and impose a deadline for the completion of IRA disarmament.

Party leader David Trimble has already warned such a move would give the Republican group an excuse for further delay.

Mr Blair, although saying Mr Trimble would be able to make the point "far better and more persuasively" to his own party, appealed for people to step back from the minutiae of the peace process and see the "big picture" that was still "very, very positive".

Mr Ahern said the British-Irish Council, an improving economy in Northern Ireland and co-operation on issues such as tourism and trade showed the successes of Mr Trimble's policies.

"The alternative, we don't even want to remind ourselves of," he said.

"It would be very hard to see how anybody who believes in progress of any kind would not be supportive (of Mr Trimble)."