The Minister for Foreing Affairs, Mr Cowen, is meeting a unionist delegation in Dublin today ahead of crucial peace process talks next month.
Sir Reg Empey, Mr Michael McGimpsey and Lady Silvia Hermon are in the capital for the lunchtime meeting.
Key talks take place in Stormont tomorrow, when Mr Cowen and the Northern Secretary, Mr Paul Murphy, will meet the parties.
The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, and British Prime Minister Tony Blair will lead further negotiations at Leeds Castle in Kent from September 16th to 18th in an effort to revive power-sharing in the North.
The Independent Monitoring Commission, which recently requested a meeting with the British government is meeting Mr Blair in London this afternoon.
The institutions were suspended in October 2002 following allegations that the IRA operated a spy ring at the heart of the Northern Ireland Office.