The Taoiseach has warned that the Constitution has no provision to allow for the suspension of the institutions set up under the Belfast Agreement.
Senior sources fear the Government could find itself in an invidious position if Sinn Fein were to proceed with a legal action challenging the constitutionality of the suspension in this State. The Government would represent the State in any such proceedings.
In a bid to circumvent the constitutional uncertainty following the Northern Secretary's decision on Friday night to suspend the Northern Ireland executive, assembly and other North-South and British-Irish institutions, Mr Ahern has called for an extensive round of consultations in the coming days to enable clarity to be sought on decommissioning and the suspension to be lifted.
He is attempting to restrain the British government from beginning a formal review under the Belfast Agreement to tackle the decommissioning impasse in the wake of the suspension.
Writing in today's Irish Times, the Taoiseach also stresses the importance which the Government attaches to the report produced by Gen. John de Chastelain, chairman of the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning, on Friday night.
"As someone who worked long and late over the last few weeks on these issues, I can confirm, without breaking any confidence, the deep significance for the resolution of the decommissioning issue of the last two paragraphs of the de Chastelain report," Mr Ahern stated.
He added that, in effect, what the commission was saying was that "it believes that, for the first time, it has a commitment from the IRA itself that decommissioning will happen. Given where we have been coming from, that is a huge advance and one we must now build on quickly."
The Taoiseach has suggested that the Ulster Unionist leader, Mr Trimble, should meet Gen. de Chastelain in the coming days to get reassurance on the basis on which he gave his assessment that there was the real prospect of agreement on IRA decommissioning now. He also advocates that the president of Sinn Fein, Mr Adams, should meet Mr Trimble for the same reason.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, will return early from his first EU General Affairs Council meeting today to have a round of consultations with Sinn Fein and SDLP leaders before meeting Mr Mandelson tonight. Meanwhile, the Taoiseach expressed concern about the constitutional implications for this State of the unilateral suspension of the institutions.
"All parties to the agreement have particular concerns and responsibilities that they must look to," he states in today's Irish Times.
"For the Irish Government, these include our position as a State with a written Constitution.
"That Constitution has now been amended to include the terms of the British-Irish Agreement, terms which do not expressly include provision for suspension. In that context, suspension raised issues of concern for the Government and any significant extension of it could make the situation more difficult," Mr Ahern says.
The Government has no intention of amending the British-Irish Agreement Act, 1999, which devolved powers to the North-South ministerial council, the British-Irish council and the cross-Border implementation bodies last December. Some Government sources had believed that a short, technical Bill could suspend powers devolved in a referendum.
