The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, said yesterday in Helsinki that he had high hopes that Sinn Fein will endorse the Belfast Agreement in two weeks' time.
He reiterated his faith that the Northern Ireland peace accord would provide a lasting solution to the sectarian conflict in the North, the Finnish STT/FNB news agency said. Mr Ahern is visiting Finland at the invitation of the Prime Minister, Mr Paavo Lipponen.
He acknowledged the agreement could not prevent unionist and republican extremists from attempting to sabotage the peace process.
But he did not believe the main paramilitary organisations had been involved in violence which has followed the April 10th peace accord and added that it would take time to eliminate the most extreme activists.
The two leaders also discussed the problem of reaching consensus on who should head the future European Central Bank (ECB) and said they hoped a solution could be found before the Brussels summit on the single European currency this weekend.
They refused to say whether they favoured the Dutch candidate, Mr Wim Duisenberg, or Governor of the Bank of France Mr Jean-Claude Trichet.