The Ulster Unionists are today set for crisis talks with Sinn Fein following the latest setback in the search for peace.

The prime minister and his Irish counterpart Bertie Ahern last night adjourned talks after the latest act of IRA decommissioning failed to persuade David Trimble to back moves to re-establish devolution.

But talks will continue today in a bid to overcome the latest problems ensnaring the peace process. Speaking last night the prime minister expressed his hope that a deal could be salvaged.

"We are not going to reach agreement tonight, which is a great disappointment to us," said Blair. "As always with Northern Ireland, we will try, try and try again."

Signalling that the elections would still go ahead on November 26, Blair said the IRA's latest act of decommissioning should be enough to bring unionists on board.

But it remained clear that a day which was meant to see a carefully choreographed series of announcements from the key players had gone badly wrong.

Paul Murphy, the Northern Ireland secretary, is today set to brief MPs on the latest political twists in the province.

Despite his anger David Trimble said that he hoped a deal could be "retrievable".

But he warned there had to be greater transparency in the decommissioning process.

"We had made it very clear to republicans and to the governments and to General de Chastelain what we needed was a clear, transparent report of major acts of decommissioning," he said.

Gerry Adams had earlier called on all paramilitary groups to "desist" from violence and commit to a peaceful and democratic future for the province.

The FT, however, suggests that it was too much to expect yesterday's carefully choreographed sequence to go according to plan.

Today's Times concludes that "it will take much more than rewinding the tape to undo the damage that has been inflicted on the peace process".

Meanwhile, the Guardian says the crisis "should have been foreseen".

Writing in the Telegraph Philip Johnston characterises the events as a "predictable" outcome "in a land of half-promises and mutual mistrust".