With the spectacle of schoolchildren caught in sectarian strife now putting the crisis in Northern Ireland back in the world headlines, it was announced yesterday that President Bush's special adviser will be in London and Belfast next week for talks with the parties.
Pope John Paul also indicated his personal concern about the scenes outside the Holy Cross school in Ardoyne.
Mr Richard Haass, who was last in the North in June, is travelling first to London where he will meet the Northern Secretary, Dr John Reid, on Monday. He will then go to Belfast.
The Assembly and Executive are facing possible collapse on September 23rd. The State Department said yesterday that the visit had been planned for some time.
Preparations in the North for the visit have been marred by wrangling over whether protocol requires representatives of the UUP and SDLP, Sir Reg Empey and Mr Seamus Mallon, to meet Mr Haass separately in their party capacities or together as acting First and Deputy First Minister.
Continuing US unease over the arrests of three Irishmen, believed to be Sinn Fein supporters, in Colombia, is likely to be high on Mr Haass's agenda.
Congressional sources say confirmation by the Sinn Fein leader, Mr Gerry Adams, that he intends to travel to Cuba shortly is likely to exacerbate the administration's anger at the arrests.
Mr Haass is also likely to question both the unionists and Sinn Fein closely on their attitudes to participation in the new police structures, which the US has strongly supported.
In an obvious reference to the sectarian conflict currently surrounding the Holy Cross school in Belfast, the Pope yesterday expressed his concern about "present difficulties" undermining the "fragile reality" of the peace process.
"Present difficulties are a reminder that peace is a fragile reality calling for continued goodwill and the implementation of the practical measures required for a just and harmonious society," he said.
Meanwhile, an initiative to resolve the crisis in Ardoyne was announced yesterday by Dr Reid and the Northern Ireland Executive.
Last night politicians and community groups were studying the two-pronged initiative which proposes an immediate process of mediation to deal with the crisis.
Reid plan to resolve crisis; School week marked by "unreal venom": page 6
