LONDON British Prime Minister Tony Blair is planning another trip to Northern Ireland next week amid signs that support for the landmark peace deal he negotiated is waning ahead of a May 22 referendum. He is determined to up his involvement and continue to maintain the momentum, a spokesman for Blair told journalists. Blair's decision to visit the province again he was there on Thursday and last week was announced after an opinion poll in Dublin's Irish Times newspaper showed that backing for the deal in northern Ireland had slipped to 56 percent from 73 percent a month earlier.

Only 35 percent of the pro-British Unionist Community planned to vote yes' and 45 percent were against last month's deal, the poll said. By contrast, support for the deal in the Irish Republic has risen by 11 points to 72 percent, with only five percent of the electorate planning to vote no. The deal will be the subject of separate plebiscites on either side of the Irish border next Friday. Blair's spokesman said that secret polling by Britain's Northern Ireland office had shown that a recent appearance by Blair on Ulster television had a significant result.

(Retuer)