The Taoiseach warned of the difficulty of reaching agreement on the establishment of a Northern Ireland executive by June 30th because it was just four days before the Drumcree march.

Mr Ahern told the Dail that the political parties pointed out how close the deadline was to the march. "This could be very difficult for them," he said.

"However, at this stage the June 30th deadline, as set down by the British Prime Minister and agreed by me, is the only thing they are hearing. They could move more quickly but that is not their intention for one reason or another. The UUP, in particular, is not in a position to agree a short-term date."

Everything was, however, being interpreted in far too rigid and inflexible a manner, he said.

The Taoiseach was responding to Opposition questions about the apparent "radical change in policy" between the Hillsborough meeting in the run-up to Easter and the recent Downing Street talks.

The Fine Gael leader, Mr John Bruton, asked if the British Prime Minister had fully considered what action they would take if the June 30th deadline was not met. "Will he dissolve the Assembly or does he know exactly what he intends to do in the event that the deadline is not met?"

The Labour leader, Mr Ruairi Quinn, said that deadlines did not concentrate minds. "What is required is the reapplication of all the participants to the Good Friday agreement and for them to demonstrate a willingness for movement." He backed the suggestion of Mr Trevor Sargent (Green Party) that the forum for peace and reconciliation reconvene.

The Taoiseach conceded that they had moved "outside the agreement" at Hillsborough in an attempt to break the impasse over decommissioning, and said it almost worked. They would have to assess the situation on June 30th if there was no agreement.

If there was any criticism to be made of the two government leaders it was that they had tried to go away from the agreement, "having had six months of foot-dragging and people not sticking to deadlines or doing what they were obliged to do".

Mr Ahern agreed that if they had stuck to the terms of the Belfast Agreement they should have had the shadow executive last autumn and the North-South bodies by October 31st. He also said that somebody had to take a "bit of a hit" on these issues. It could not be a win for one side and a loss for the other. "You have to get people to move to the middle and every time you move to the middle, even when the leaders or the negotiating teams agree, it seems that the larger groups reject."

He said there was a danger that the security situation would deteriorate further because of the attacks on nationalist areas. There was a danger that other groups could be provoked into reacting.