Northern Ireland Secretary Mr Paul Murphy has conceded that confidence in the peace process has been "undermined".
But he insisted he remained hopeful that an upcoming review would help restore faith in the battered agreement. The Taoiseach Mr Ahern and British Prime Minister Tony Blair are due to meet in Belfast next week to review the peace process.
Mr Murphy said the key to restoring confidence in the Belfast Agreement lay in reducing paramilitary activity on both the republican and loyalist sides.
Mr Murphy was speaking in New York after visiting a memorial to those who died in the Famine.
He said: "When we return, the two prime ministers will see all the parties at Hillsborough Castle to see how we can revive the process and also address the issues which are undermining confidence.
"I've got no doubt that people want to see progress in Northern Ireland and not go backwards. But at the same time we have to be realistic that confidence has been undermined over the last couple of years and we have to restore that."
PA