None of Archbishop Brady's predecessors have held such a meeting

Unionists to Meet Catholic Church

News of the meeting came on the same day as a senior branch of the Protestant Orange Order announced it would re-route two potentially contentious parades in Belfast later this month. The decision will help to ease tensions in Northern Ireland.

The Ulster Unionist Party has yet to decide whether it will participate directly in the talks due to begin again at Stormont next month. It has been taking soundings among its membership, the business community, Protestant Churches and now, it seems, the Roman Catholic church.

Speaking on the BBC Radio's Sunday programme, Dermott Nesbitt, who is leading the UUP's consultation exercise, described the meeting as part of a genuine attempt to listen to community representatives on ways of moving forward.

Archbishop Brady

No specific date has been set for the historic meeting but a former Belfast Lord Mayor, Reg Empey, confirmed it would take place within the next two or three weeks. It will be with the head of the Catholic church in Ireland, Archbishop Sean Brady.

It will most likely take place at his official residence at Ara Coeli in Armagh city. A Catholic Church spokesman said a number of bishops and some lay people were also expected to attend.

UUP leaders are engaged in wide consultation

Mr Empey, a member of the Ulster Unionist negotiating team at Stormont, told reporters: "We are undertaking a widespread community consultation exercise with the broader community and within our own party. We are speaking to all the main churches and to a very large number of community-based organisations, as well as senior business representatives".

Time is running out for the UUP to decide whether it will sit down with Sinn Fein in the substantive talks on the future of Northern Ireland scheduled for September 15.

Even though the Rev Ian Paisley's more hardline Democratic Unionist Party and Mr Robert McCartney's UK Unionists have withdrawn from the Stormont talks in protest at Sinn Fein's entry, the Ulster Unionist leader, David Trimble, is under pressure to meet the republican leadership face to face.

Of the Protestant parties, only the Ulster Democratic Party has confirmed its place at the negotiating table. The UDP is the political wing of the paramilitary Ulster Defence Association.