The Taoiseach Bertie Ahern last said a power-sharing deal in Northern Ireland was within reach and promised to spare no effort to help bring it about.
At the White House to commemorate St. Patrick's Day with the annual Shamrock Ceremony, Mr Ahern said elections in Northern Ireland earlier this month sent a strong message of a desire for a shared government.
He said he and British Prime Minister Tony Blair were committed to helping the parties work out the final details.
"I believe that we are closer than at any time in our past in Ireland to a final resolution of one of the oldest conflicts in history," Mr Ahern said. "The will of the people in Northern Ireland is unmistakable and undeniable."
"Prime Minister Blair and I will spare no effort," he said. "Nothing should allow the process to falter at this final moment."
A strong election showing by the North's main Protestant and Catholic parties was seen as making a power-sharing government more likely by sidelining the most severe hard-liners from both parties.
London and Dublin have given Northern Ireland's parties until March 26th to agree to share power or face the indefinite continuation of direct British rule.
At the ceremony where Mr Ahern presented US President George W. Bush with a bowl of clover that are the symbol of Ireland, Mr Bush praised the Taoiseach for his leadership on the Northern Ireland issue and said he stood ready to help.