Brown, Cowen to leave without deal
Gordon Brown and Brian Cowen are to leave the Hillsborough talks without a policing deal in place.
The two Prime Ministers are due to hold a press conference shortly at which they are likely to outline that substantial progress has been made but further work needs to be completed.
UTV understands Northern Ireland Secretary Shaun Woodward and Irish Foreign Minister Michael Martin will stay to chair ongoing talks.
It is not clear how the parties will react but the DUP has already said a deal will not be done on Wednesday.
DUP Environment Minister Edwin Poots said concluding a deal in the next few hours was a “big ask”.
He said: “We are still working on getting the conditions right, ultimately that is what has to be done. We’re not going to be put down to a time frame.
“We will only move whenever we accept the conditions are right to move forward – not a second before it.”
Mr Brown will miss Prime Minister’s Questions at Westminster, and Downing Street confirmed Harriet Harman will deputise for the Prime Minister at the despatch box.
Earlier on Wednesday, a UK Government spokesman said: “The Prime Minister and the Taoiseach have been engaged in discussions throughout the night with both the Sinn Fein and DUP leaderships and with the other Northern Ireland leaders. Meetings will continue throughout the morning.”
The Government spokesman added: “We continue to believe that there is scope for agreement on the elements that need to be in place to enable the completion of devolution in Northern Ireland.”
On Tuesday, the British and Irish Premiers had vowed to stay at the Hillsborough talks until a deal was brokered, claiming progress had been made during an overnight session.
There was speculation that the parties were edging towards an agreement that would see law and order powers transferred from Westminster to the Northern Ireland Assembly before the upcoming general election, while a compromise deal was being negotiated on a new system for overseeing Loyal Order parades.
The talks were dramatically convened by the two premiers on Monday after the long-running row between the Democratic Unionists and Sinn Fein over the stalled devolution of policing powers escalated to crisis point.
