The Taoiseach says he will get help from Washington and Brussels to clinch a deal in the latest talks in Northern Ireland.

Talks between the political parties and ministers from Dublin and London have been running for the last eight weeks.

The Taoiseach says he will get help from anyone he can, including for the United States and the European Union.

“I have undertaken to be in touch with the United States, to be in touch with Brussels in respect of certain matters, and to obviously be in touch with Downing Street.

“I expect to be back here in Northern Ireland next week with the Prime Minister and hopefully, hopefully, the possibilities that are now on the table can now be moved forward to an acceptable conclusion for everybody.”

The North's First Minister, Peter Robinson, says there must be a deal in the talks - on flags and parades - in the next ten days.

The talks are seen as a last ditch attempt to broker an agreement on a range of volatile issues.

Northern Ireland's First Minister says there will be no deal on flags and parades unless it's reached in the next 10 days.

Peter Robinson says time is running out for a deal on some of the legacy issues in the North.

All-party talks - which have also involved ministers from Dublin and London - have been running for eight weeks.

But Peter Robinson says they can't go on forever.

“If we have not broken the back of the process in that period of time it will be very difficult for it to be done before Christmas and I think everybody in here agrees that if it’s not done before Christmas it will not be done before the UK general election," Mr. Robinson said.

“So I firmly believe that everybody must roll up their sleeves.”