As the pressure on Sinn Féin’s presence in the Northern Ireland power-sharing executive intensifies, the party’s leader Mr Gerry Adams meets the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, later today to call for a review of the Belfast Agreement.
While Northern Ireland First Minister Mr David Trimble considers reviving attempts to remove Sinn Féin’s two ministers over what he says is a breach of the IRA ceasefire, the party will be placing the focus of today’s meeting on the violence in Belfast which they say is being orchestrated by loyalist paramilitaries.
Sinn Féin’s leader in the Dáil Mr Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin said at the weekend that there was a "battle taking place within the political leadership of unionism which is putting pressure on the process".
He said "a rigorous review of progress" needed to address policing, demilitarisation and the "equality agenda". He also re-iterated the party’s call for a public and independent inquiry into the killing of Belfast solicitor Mr Pat Finucane.
Today’s meeting in Dublin comes ahead of a crucial meeting between Mr Ahern and British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Mr Blair is under pressure to take action against Sinn Féin over reports that the IRA were involved in paramilitary activities in Colombia.
Mr Trimble has described Thursday’s meeting between Mr Ahern and Mr Blair as the Prime Minister’s "last chance" to deal with the increasing tensions in the North with the UUP leader saying the police believe the republicans are also orchestrating the street violence that continued this weekend.
"I do have to emphasise that the situation in Northern Ireland has deteriorated very sharply over the course of the last month or two ... The inevitable consequence of that is that support for the present arrangements is rapidly vanishing," Mr Trimble said yesterday.