The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern today warned of the dangers of "vacuums andtensions" emerging in the Northern Ireland peace process if itspolitical institutions are suspended for too long.
Northern Ireland Secretary Dr John Reid is expected to announce suspensiontomorrow morning, following a string of recent controversies including SinnFéin's alleged spying operation at Stormont.
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Mr Ahern, interviewed on BBC 1's
Breakfast with Frost
programme, acknowledgedthat suspension looked inevitable, but warned against allowing it to continuefor too long.
Hesaid: "Unfortunately it looks as if again we are going tosee the suspension of the institutions, but we are not seeing the suspension ofthe Agreement. So working closely with Tony Blair, the British Government andJohn Reid, I think we have to now try and look at all the outstanding issues,and there are many.
"Clearly the fact that violence still exists, and clearly the fact thatthere is still not a full move away from the past, from the activities of thepast, into total democratic means, that is creating tensions, it is breakingtrust.
"We have to try to deal with that problem, along with a lot of the otheroutstanding problems ... there is demilitarisation, there is the whole issue ofparamilitary activities. There is the sectarianism that is in northern society.
"And I think we have to try in this period of suspension to come to a totaland holistic approach to dealing with these issues.
"I do believe, given a span of time, and hopefully not too much time,because I would not like to see the institutions being suspended for long ... wehave to try between the parties to build trust and come to solutions to theseproblems.