In a joint statement, US President George W. Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern urged all sides to accept proposals from London and Dublin for moving the Good Friday accords forward.

The proposals are to be released Thursday, the fifth anniversary of the signing of the accords aimed at ending three decades of sectarian strife in the British province.

"The break with paramilitarism in all its past forms must be complete and irrevocable," said the statement, which dovetailed with British demands for the Irish Republican Army (IRA) to give up its weapons and renounce armed struggle.

"The acceptance and implementation of the governments' forthcoming proposals would promote the reconciliation that the people of Northern Ireland desire and deserve," said the statement.

"These proposals, built on the firm ground of the Good Friday Agreement, hold out the prospect of enormous progress," it said.

"They reflect our shared view that there can be no place in Northern Ireland for paramilitary activity and capability."

The statement was issued at the end of two days of talks at Hillsborough Castle near Belfast between Bush and Blair dominated by Iraq. Ahern joined them for lunch Tuesday to focus on the Northern Ireland question.

Progress on implementing the Good Friday accords has been stalled since October when Northern Ireland's power-sharing executive and assembly were suspended amid a row over alleged IRA spy activities.

SPACE.WIRE