British Prime Minister Mr Tony Blair said today that he hoped self-rule could be restored to Northern Ireland despite the success of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in last week's Assembly elections.
Speaking at his monthly Downing Street news conference, Mr Blair said that he expected to meet with the DUP leadership some time before Christmas.
He said that although the DUP, which opposes the Belfast Agreement, had emerged as the largest party in the North, there appeared to be no threat of a resurgence of paramilitary violence.
"I understand from the DUP that they are saying well they still want some form of agreement to go forward. We will have to take it forward.
"It is a more difficult situation, yes. But it is one that we will have to manage and we are used to managing difficult situations in Northern Ireland. What is interesting to me is that there is no sense that the political situation which needs resolving is going to lead to a security crisis," Mr Blair said.
"On the contrary, people are looking at how they work the thing out in a peaceful and democratic way."
He emphasised that 70 per cent of the population had voted for pro-Agreement parties and that the result of the election had been a "pretty close run thing" between the DUP and Mr David Trimble's Ulster Unionist Party.
"The majority of people actually do want to see devolved government up and running again. The question is on what terms and that is what we have got to establish and I hope that we can," he said.
In the Dáil this evening, the Taoiseach said he intended to meet with all parties and that the SDLP and Sinn Féin had already been in touch. Although an invitation has been extended, Mr Ahern said no agreement had been reached for talks with the DUP.
Asked about the review of the Belfast Agreement, Mr Ahern said such a review was provided for in the agreement and it was "coincidental" that it was to occur now. He would write to the political parties in the North today or tomorrow to seek their views, Mr Ahern said.
The review process would see all the former members of the last Executive submitting their opinions about how the agreement operated, added Mr Ahern.
He admitted the outcome of the election had made reinstating the Assembly more problematic but he stressed that people should not forget that recent opinion polls showed that the majority of citizens in northern Ireland were in favour of devolution, even if they disagreed on what form it should take.
The UUP leadership met the Northern Secretary Mr Paul Murphy this morning to urge him to restore the institutions as soon as possible.
The UUP delegation that met Mr Murphy at Castle Buildings, Stormont, included party leader and former first minister Mr Trimble as well as MLAs Sir Reg Empey, Mr Dermot Nesbitt and Mr David McClarty.
They described the meeting as "a good, constructive dialogue" about what they said was the urgent need to secure acts of completion from the IRA and the subsequent restoration of the Assembly.
A delegation of 13 DUP MLAs met Mr Murphy yesterday amid concerns in Dublin and London that the party would insist on a renegotiation of the Agreement. The DUP leader, the Rev Ian Paisley, has also insisted the DUP would refuse to co-operate in government with Sinn Féin.
However, the meeting with Mr Murphy was described as surprisingly cordial, with the DUP pledging to pursue a "constructive" political agenda.
Mr Murphy is writing to the North's political parties today inviting them to submit their proposals on how the review of the agreement should be conducted.