Ulster leaders meet Brown for city talks

THE Rev Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness were set to meet Chancellor Gordon Brown in Edinburgh today in their first engagement outside Northern Ireland as the leaders of the incoming power-sharing executive.

The Democratic Unionist leader and the Sinn Fein MP, who will officially become First and Deputy First Minister at Stormont next Tuesday, were meeting the Chancellor to urge him to provide a more generous package of funds for the new devolved government.

But Stormont sources were playing down the prospects of the Chancellor signing off a radical economic package for Ulster.

"There are a number of things we want to discuss with the Chancellor," one source said.

"Obviously a lot has been said about reducing Corporation Tax to the 12.5 per cent level enjoyed by the Irish Republic.

"But there are other issues we would like to explore, such as ensuring money not spent by the government departments remains in the Stormont coffers instead of going back to the Treasury."