The establishment of a Council of the Isles is expected to be among a set of propositions to be put before the parties when the Stormont talks resume today. A list of suggestions for discussion is likely to be ready within days.
With sources denying that the two governments are presenting the joint proposals as "the blueprint for an agreement", the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, and the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, discussed the issues by telephone on several occasions in recent days, including yesterday.
However, republican sources expressed deep anxiety last night about the concept of a Council of the Isles, saying it appeared to be gaining equal status to the "island of Ireland" cross-Border bodies enunciated in the Framework Document.
Such a development could, if pursued, prove "extremely damaging" to the talks process, they said.
Insisting that the suggestions, on which officials were working up to last night, were drawn up only to kick-start the talks, Government sources in Dublin said the parties could now consider them and the governments would subsequently take their reactions into account in producing more detailed papers for negotiations.
The propositions will also deal with a Northern assembly, cross-Border bodies, constitutional change and rights issues.
Following the weekend leak to the Daily Telegraph of a British position paper, senior sources in Dublin declared that the cross-Border institutions would have to operate separately from the Council of the Isles, a body that would include representatives of the new assembly in Belfast, and from Edinburgh and Cardiff as well as Dublin and London.
The cross-Border institutions would be "substantial" and would not be under the auspices of the council.
Meanwhile, the Council of the Isles was "just an idea that has emerged a means of putting flesh on Strand Three" (east-west relations), which was the least developed of the three sets of relationships, one source said. It was originally proposed by the Progressive Unionist Party.
"These are joint propositions, not a blueprint for agreement, and are an attempt to focus minds. It is not an attempt to outline what the solution might be.
"The parties failed to reach consensus on the heads of agreement in December and these are designed to stimulate discussion and move towards thrashing out the key issues," another source said.
The Taoiseach and Prime Minister were in constant touch before and after the controversial newspaper leak.
It is understood that Mr Ahern was taken aback by the report and discussed its contents with Mr Blair, who told him he was going to put the matter in context in a television interview with Mr David Frost yesterday.
Meanwhile the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Andrews, said that today's talks meant the time had come to move immediately from the exchange of general statements to the substance of the issues to be negotiated as part of a genuine and lasting settlement. "I believe that we are all determined to see this happen," he added.
The Labour Party leader, Mr Ruairi Quinn, expressed concern at the Daily Telegraph leak, saying it could damage the integrity of the process.
Initiatives of this kind should be put before the multi-party talks, the forum which could not be ignored or by-passed. "It is critical that all parties are informed on an equal basis of any new or significant development in the peace process," he said.
The Presbyterian Moderator, Dr Sam Hutchinson, said those returning to the talks had an extremely difficult and responsible task. The talks carried a vital hope for the future.