The Taoiseach and the British Prime Minister will tonight seek to agree a timetable for the next two weeks of crucial talks on the North which will determine the fate of the Belfast Agreement.
Mr Ahern and Mr Blair are due to meet in Gothenburg in Sweden late tonight to try to put in place arrangements for the negotiations. They will hold talks after a dinner between the 15 EU Heads of Government and President Bush on the eve of the EU summit.
Their meeting takes place amid fears that Mr David Trimble will shortly face a leadership challenge within the Ulster Unionist Party. There is concern that a deal on paramilitary weapons, police reform, demilitarisation and the full operation of the new political institutions must be struck soon if a severe political crisis is to be avoided.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, held talks with the Northern Secretary, Dr John Reid, in Dublin yesterday as intensive contacts got under way. A Sinn Fein delegation met the Taoiseach and Mr Cowen at Government Buildings.
Dr Reid indicated before the meeting that he believed Sinn Fein now had the primary responsibility to compromise. Saying the election results put that party in a position of strength, he added: "I have a simple view that the greater the support you have, the greater the responsibility you have to make that agreement work."
At a press conference in Dublin later, the Sinn Fein president, Mr Gerry Adams, said if the British government wanted to say that to him, it should do so directly. He pledged to use his party's mandate "in a sure-footed and wise way", but gave no public indication of any willingness to compromise. He called again on Mr Blair not to "give unionists more room to manoeuvre" but to take the initiative and "make it clear that this is the way it's going to be". He insisted that the Belfast Agreement was not up for renegotiation but he was confident that the outstanding issues will be resolved.
"It is our view and it is my personal conviction that all of these matters are going to be resolved. The big question is when are they going to be resolved. There is not actually that much negotiations to do. We want to see every aspect of the agreement acted upon."
Both Mr Cowen and Dr Reid said the Northern elections had shown that voters wanted the agreement to work. Mr Adams also made the point that "the pro-agreement parties have won this election. Mr Paisley and Co are a minority."
Dr Reid also welcomed the figures released yesterday by the RUC Chief Constable showing that a third of the latest round of applicants to join the force were Catholic. On this basis, he said, he believed the force could meet its aim of 50-50 recruitment from the Catholic and Protestant communities.
While Britain is emphasising the need for progress on weapons, the Government's view remains that the only prospect of a deal is simultaneous agreement on all outstanding issues. These are paramilitary weapons, police reform, British demilitarisation and the full operation of the new political institutions.
Speculation continues that a move on the weapons issue such as the sealing of an arms dump is possible. Behind-the-scenes discussions seeking a firm IRA decommissioning timetable are also expected to begin shortly. However it appears certain that any move on weapons would come only as part of a settlement involving all outstanding issues. It is also unclear whether a timetable and the sealing of a dump would be enough to enable Mr Trimble to ward off his opponents.