The Taoiseach warned last night the outlook for the peace process in Northern Ireland would be "very very bleak" if elections were not called in the next three weeks on the basis of an end to paramilitary activity and Unionist agreement on power-sharing, writes Conor O'Clery in New York.
Mr Ahern said all the good work on the ground in achieving a peaceful marching season - what he called a "wonderful summer" - in Northern Ireland could not be sustained unless this came about, he said.
Officials in the British and Irish governments and those in the US working with President George Bush's special envoy, Richard Haass, "don't really see how we can hold this together if we don't resolve it in the next few weeks," Mr Ahern said.
The Taoiseach was speaking to Irish journalists after an hour-long meeting in New York with Mr Haass and a lunch with prominent IrishAmerican supporters of the peace process, hosted by Mr Tom Moran, CEO of Mutual of America.
Asked if agreement was close, Mr Ahern said that a huge amount of effort had gone into this getting progress since September 1st.
"Officials have been working around the clock. We have given it three weekends. You just can't sustain it really."
"I want three things to happen," he said. "I want the British Government to declare elections. I want Sinn Féin make a clear unambiguous statement, that will be as it was in the spring time, a statement that the IRA will also be signed up to, and that paramilitary activity and all that it stands for - we've all been through the definitions, everybody knows what they mean - that that is finished.
"And thirdly, I want David Trimble saying, based on that, that he will move into a power-sharing executive. Two and three don't work if you don't get the two of them." The peaceful summer had not happened easily, Mr Ahern said. "I've done my bit, the loyalist commission, the President, they have done their bit; the communities in the north, Sinn Féin have done their bit on the ground, the loyalists, Archbishop Eames, Archbishop Daly... you can't just re-enact that.
"Believe me, it's a summer that didn't happen easily. Enormous amount of effort went into that and you wouldn't sustain it."
The role of Mr Haass in the current negotiations was absolutely crucial, Mr Ahern said. He had huge credibility and was working the phones to help broker an agreement.
Yesterday Mr Ahern performed the opening ceremony for the new North American headquarters at Wall Street of an Irish-run company Financial Dynamics.
Mr Ahern also visited the New York Stock Exchange as a guest of Catherine Kinney, co-chief operating officer with Robert Britz, to hear at first hand the prospects for the market and the world economy.