Northern Ireland Secretary Paul Murphy will meet representatives of the Ulster Defence Association today in a bid to re-engage loyalists in the peace process.
Mr Murphy will hold talks with the Ulster Political Research Group, which provides political analysis to the UDA.
The UDA was previously linked to the Ulster Democratic Party which took part in the negotiations leading to the Belfast Agreement in 1998.
But the party folded after a poor showing in the 1998 Assembly election, leaving the UDA with no frontline political voice in Northern Ireland politics.
Since 1998, the UDA has also been involved in several feuds. These resulted in the expulsion of one of it's most infamous brigadiers, Johnny "Mad Dog" Adair from the organisation.
Loyalist sources said it was hoped that the discussions with Mr Murphy would find a way of reconnecting loyalism with the political process.
Prior to the talks, SDLP MLA Mr Alban Maginness urged Mr Murphy to demand an end to loyalist attacks on Catholics and ethnic minorities and all criminal activity.
"[Loyalists] must also completely stop poisoning their own communities with drugs and it is imperative that they fully, finally and completely decommission all their weaponry," he said. "The increasing movement from paramilitary activity to organised criminality must be confronted and those responsible prosecuted. These are the tests that the Secretary of State must set."
Sinn Féin's Mr Alex Maskey said while his party welcomed dialogue, Mr Murphy had to make it clear that racial and sectarian attacks must end and drug dealing must stop. The South Belfast MLA also said people were tired of loyalists moaning about the raw deal their communities had supposedly got since the ceasefires. "Deprivation and poverty exist not just in the loyalist community," he said.
"We would like to see taskforces working in the community which would be directly answerable to the Secretary of State but would also deal with issues on the ground," Mr Ervine said. "These taskforces would deal with issues of maximum importance to Protestant working class communities such as education, health, dealing with juvenile pregnancies, drug and alcohol problems and the high incidences of mental health difficulties in Northern Ireland."
Yesterday, Mr Murphy the leader of the Progressive Unionist Party, Mr David Ervine. Afterwards the East Belfast Assembly member, whose party is linked to the Ulster Volunteer Force and the Red Hand Commando, said Mr Murphy had shown interest in his proposals for taskforces to be set up in Protestant working class communities across Northern Ireland to address a range of socioeconomic problems.