The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, and the new Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Dermot Ahern, are to meet the DUP leader, the Rev Ian Paisley, and his deputy, Mr Peter Robinson, at Government Buildings this afternoon.
They will seek to discover if the deal that appeared tantalisingly close at Leeds Castle can be finalised.
Neither Government nor DUP sources are expecting anything conclusive to emerge from today's first formal political meeting between the Taoiseach and Dr Paisley. However, they believe it can open up possibilities for the resolution of the outstanding institutional issues in the coming weeks.
The meeting should be conducted in a reasonably congenial atmosphere as, according to a senior Government source, the DUP was accommodating in helping to finalise arrangements.
A senior DUP source said Dr Paisley and Mr Robinson were looking forward to the meeting.
A Government spokeswoman earlier this week signalled that the Taoiseach would attempt to convince Dr Paisley that the IRA genuinely was willing to disarm and end activity, in return for a DUP commitment to share power within the main framework of the Belfast Agreement.
Senior Irish and British officials have been working in Dublin this week to devise a compromise formula on ministerial accountability, which proved to be the main procedural obstacle to a deal. Mr Ahern is likely to apprise Dr Paisley and Mr Robinson of any progress made by the officials, and also to assess if the DUP would accept compromise proposals consistent with the agreement.
Meanwhile, senior Sinn Féin negotiators, Mr Mitchel McLaughlin and Mr Martin Ferris, have travelled to the US to carry out an extensive series of engagements with US politicians and influential members of the Irish-American community.
Mr McLaughlin said the main purpose of the visit was to seek US support for the "defence" of the agreement which was "under attack from the DUP".
"The DUP cannot be allowed to continue to stall progress and forward movement. It is crucial that the two governments make this clear to the DUP and stop pandering to anti-agreement elements. Our message this week will be very clear in the United States - there can be no dilution of the core fundamentals and principles of the Good Friday Agreement," said Mr McLaughlin.
