PRESIDENT BUSH expressed hope yesterday that his surprise intervention in the Northern Ireland peace process could help to push both sides towards a deal.

Mr Bush interrupted his Thanksgiving holiday to speak by telephone to the Rev Ian Paisley, the Democratic Unionist Party leader, and Gerry Adams, the Sinn Fein leader. “I’m trying to be a part of the process of getting both Ian Paisley and Gerry Adams to the table to get a deal done; in other words, to close the agreement they have been working on for some time,” Mr Bush said.

Speaking outside the only café in Crawford, Texas, the hamlet seven miles from his ranch, Mr Bush said: “Hopefully it will help. Anything I can do to help keep the process moving forward, I’m willing to do,” he added before heading inside for a burger lunch.

Officials in Washington said that Mr Bush’s call was a sign of how close both sides may be to clinching a deal. Mr Bush has made it a rule not to involve himself personally in peace negotiations, be they in the Middle East or Northern Ireland, unless he believes that both sides are committed to the compromises required to move forward.

But Mr Paisley gave a sharp reminder to President Bush of his own uncompromising stance against terrorism.

He told Mr Bush that it would be “inconceivable” that terrorists would be allowed to join the US Administration in Washington.

“I reminded the President of the fact that he would not have terrorists in his Government and we must be satisfied that IRA terrorism is over and cannot return,” Mr Paisley said.

The involvement of President Bush, which would have been at the request of Tony Blair, was another indication of the critical stage reached in the intensive talks seeking to restore devolved government to Northern Ireland. An initial deadline of yesterday has now slipped to Tuesday.

Unlike President Clinton, his predecessor, whose similar eleventh-hour calls to party leaders before the Good Friday agreement were a symptom of his close involvement in the process, President Bush has until now stood back from the politics of Northern Ireland.

Mr Paisley, who has resisted pressure to conclude the process while demanding significant concessions during the talks, said that President Bush had offered his involvement should it be of help.

“He wished me well in our endeavours and told me I could come back to him if I wanted to speak again to him. I told him we have been praying for ever in this country and I wished him well at this time,” Mr Paisley said.

The DUP’s executive was due to meet in Belfast last night to discuss whether to strike a deal with Sinn Fein to form a powersharing government in place of direct rule from London.

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