The US special envoy to Northern Ireland, Mr Richard Haass, will arrive in the North this week to talk to the political parties about the possibility of restoring devolution.
The talks follow last week's election result that saw the Rev Ian Paisley's hard-line Democratic Unionist Party become the largest unionist party and Sinn Féin overtake the Social Democratic and Labour Party as the leaders of nationalism.
He is likely to call on the parties to engage positively in a bid to restore the power sharing administration of Stormont and get the Good Friday Agreement back on track. Mr Haass is expected to arrive in the North tomorrow and will stay for two days.
It is expected to be Mr Haass's last visit to the North in the role of George W. Bush's special ambassador. Mr Haass, who left the US State Department to join New York think tank the Council for Foreign Relations in July, will be replaced as envoy at the start of next year.
Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams and SDLP leader Mr Mark Durkan are meeting at Stormont to discuss the implications to the political process of last Wednesday's Assembly election result.