The Northern Ireland peace process faces another tough week following a tense weekend which saw verbal skirmishes between Sinn Fein's Gerry Adams and Ulster Unionist David Trimble.

The Ulster Unionist leader said he wanted to exclude Sinn Fein members of the NI executive from meetings of the north-south ministerial council. Downing Street on Monday confirmed that Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern would talk by telephone about the problems posed by the Ulster Unionist's decision to force through sanctions on Sinn Fein.The situation in the province remains tense, with Trimble saying said he would bar Sinn Fein attending the north south council until the IRA reconvened talks with decommissioning officials. Hitting back, Adams said: "It is with some sadness that we see unionism once again trying to bully the rest of us, still in denial that things have changed, still thinking that they are in charge, which of course they're not."