The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, said here he has "no great worry" about the failure of the parties in the Northern Ireland peace process to agree yesterday on an agenda for the next phase of the negotiations.
The Taoiseach said he believed the parties had "effectively agreed the heads of agreement" already and that there was some "playacting" going on.
"The line of disagreement is that the unionists are saying that Sinn Fein won't talk about Strand One issues unless policing and demilitarisation are on the agenda, but all these things are going to be part of the discussions anyhow. The heads of agreement as put together last week are not going to change."
The Taoiseach was briefing Irish reporters accompanying him on his US trip on the basis of the latest reports he had received from the Department of Foreign Affairs on the talks in Belfast which had not yet concluded.
Mr Ahern said the most "significant" aspect of yesterday's talks was that the Sinn Fein negotiator, Mr Martin McGuinness, said his party "will discuss an internal assembly in Strand One. That will allow us to move on to Strands Two and Three."
The Taoiseach expressed confidence the negotiations would move into a more intensive phase when they resume on January 12th. Dates have also been agreed for the talks to move to London and Dublin at later dates.
He said that while Mr McGuinness had linked Sinn Fein's agreement to discuss a Northern Ireland assembly in Strand One to negotiations on the reform of the RUC and demilitarisation, it had already been decided that these matters would be discussed.
Mr Ahern said that when talks resume on January 12th, "the small groups will move things forward". Nearly all the position papers from which the Areas of Agreement document was taken had been drawn up. "Nothing new has surfaced for a month."
"Looking at this and understanding the codes that are in it, we'll be able to get down straight away under the three strands and under the Areas of Agreement as listed," he said.
The feeling among Irish officials is that unionists would prefer to delay the formal agreement on the agenda until after the Christmas break as this would mean less pressure on them from critics during this period.
The Taoiseach said the Government had done a lot of work on Strand Two issues dealing with North-South bodies, and it was important for nationalists in the North that these bodies be "real, meaningful and not just useful, ad-hoc advisory chat shows".
On the question of changes in Articles Two and Three of the Constitution he had made it "very clear to [the British Prime Minister] Blair the other day" - and this wasn't picked up - that any changes in these articles would be in the context of changes to the Government of Ireland Act.
"The big one for us is what kind of amendments we put in." Constitutional experts were now advising him on this. He felt that if consent had to be part of the new Articles Two and Three, then it should also be in the new Government of Ireland Act in a way that would be clear to nationalists.
The Taoiseach opened the new Irish Institute at Boston College before flying back to Dublin. It was formerly the Centre for Irish Management and has been expanded to accommodate the growth in programmes offered to participants from Northern Ireland and the Republic.