The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, last night held an introductory meeting with the new US special adviser on Northern Ireland, Dr Mitchell Reiss.
The meeting at Iveagh House followed a series of meetings Dr Reiss held in Belfast with the Northern Ireland parties. He succeeded Dr Richard Haass, who left the post to become president of the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.
Dr Reiss said President Bush and the US administration remained committed to the peace process. With the review of the Belfast Agreement now under way, Dr Reiss said he would return in April and "hopefully" in June.
"I will be coming back whenever it is useful for the peace process and for as long as it takes," he said. "It's really a listening and learning tour. I had very good meetings with the political parties up in Belfast. I had very good meetings here today in Dublin."
Mr Cowen said afterwards that he was impressed by the pro-active and informed manner in which Dr Reiss had set about his work. He said he had exchanged notes with Dr Reiss on their respective recent contacts in Northern Ireland and discussed the prospects for the review.
Mr Cowen said both agreed on "the importance of the full implementation of the Belfast Agreement, not least in regard to its key commitments on the operation of stable political institutions and the complete ending of paramilitarism".
