The British and Irish governments are expressing some concern that the Northern parties may not be sufficiently primed for the Leeds Castle talks in Kent this month aimed at restoring the Stormont institutions.
The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, and the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, are dedicating at least three days to the Kent talks, from September 16th-18th, and are to hold a bilateral meeting next week. Nonetheless there is a degree of anxiety about whether the parties are fully committed to achieving a far-reaching accord.
One senior Dublin source warned that were the talks to fail, it "would stretch the credibility of the political process". Mr Ahern said there was a "particular obligation" on politicians to help replace "suspicion and hostility with trust and dialogue, and violence, or the threat of violence, with the rule of law".
Preparatory talks involving the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, the Northern Secretary and the Northern parties open in Stormont today and continue tomorrow. Mr Ahern and Mr Blair are to meet on Friday week to discuss progress.
However, some commentators, possibly based on political guidance, have been suggesting that a deal is not possible until after the next British general election, which could take place in May or in the autumn of next year, or even early in 2006.
The argument is that neither the DUP nor Sinn Féin would be prepared to conclude a deal until, respectively, they make further political gains in the general election against the Ulster Unionist Party and the SDLP.
Sinn Féin has insisted it is fully committed to achieving a comprehensive agreement while the DUP has said the same, although expressing doubts over whether all outstanding issues can be concluded in the Kent talks.
The Dublin source warned that the political process could be badly damaged if, after two political failures last year, the process were again to break down.
A senior London figure warned there appeared to be a growing consensus that Kent was just another stage in the talks process while the two governments viewed them as an opportunity to resolve all remaining issues.
In a statement marking the 10th anniversary of the IRA ceasefire, Mr Ahern spelled out the three issues that the governments want to see resolved in order to restore the institutions: "The need to end all forms of paramilitary activity and to see the decommissioning of all paramilitary weapons to an early timetable and on a convincing basis; a commitment to stable and durable partnership government in Northern Ireland and to any changes to the operation of the institutions agreed within the review of the Good Friday agreement; and the need for the republican movement to accept and support policing and to set the context for devolving policing and justice."
Mr Blair's spokesman said there was no reason to delay the process and that failure to reach a deal would result in a political vacuum.
The Ulster Unionist Party after a meeting with Mr Cowen in Dublin yesterday suggested that if the Leeds Castle talks did not restore the institutions then the North-South bodies may have to be would up.
