Blair Sets Deadline for Peace Process

British Prime Minister Tony Blair set a June 30 deadline for the transfer of a range of largely home-rule powers from Britain to Northern Ireland, a spokesman at his London office said. The structure, a key proposal in last year’s Good Friday peace accord between Northern Ireland’s main parties, has been blocked for months by a dispute over Irish Republican Army disarmament. “The prime minister has set a deadline of June 30 for the devolution of power,” Blair’s spokesman said. The cutoff date was described as “absolute.” The move, which envisages the creation of a ruling Northern Ireland executive council under continued British sovereignty, was seen as an initiative to end an impasse in the province’s peace process.