The US President, Mr George W. Bush, yesterday made his first significant intervention in the Northern Ireland peace process by calling on the IRA to disarm.
Mr Bush, who begins a state visit to Britain today, said that the decommissioning of paramilitary arms was essential and offered the British and Irish governments his help in fostering peace.
Mr Bush's predecessor, Mr Bill Clinton, made Northern Ireland a key foreign policy priority while he was in the White House, but Mr Bush has so far steered clear of public comment.
However, he used an interview for today's London Times to tell the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, and British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair: "I stand ready to help."
Mr Bush told the Times: "There should be no mistake. We believe that the decommissioning part of the Good Friday agreement should be upheld. My government stands side by side with those two governments and those two leaders in urging all sides to decommission, to disarm."