Sinn Fein's chief negotiator Mr Martin McGuinness today said no party held the upper hand in the peace process.
As the parties waited to see how the Taoiseach Mr Ahern and the British Prime Minister Tony Blair's plan for the process will move it forward, Mr McGuinness said that after last November's Assembly Elections "no parties are at the helm".
The claim by the Mid Ulster MP came during a visit to Dublin to unveil an election banner for his party's EU Parliament candidate in the city, Ms Mary Lou McDonald.
"We know there will be a different approach and we are determined to see that the process works," he said.
"We were working with a Unionist leader who was looking over his shoulder at the leader of the DUP. Now we have a Unionist leader who is not looking over his shoulder at anyone."
"But in terms of the Irish Nationalist and Republican vote in the north Sinn Fein are in a very dominant position," he said.
Following Archbishop Sean Brady's speech in London expressing concerns about police reform in Northern Ireland, Mr McGuinness said that issue also had to be resolved.
"I am quite convinced that if the two governments had have fulfilled their commitments and if David Trimble had kept his word I think we would have all been propelled to a wholly different situation," the former Stormont Education Minister said.
"What we're trying to do is to bring about a situation where all the commitments that were made are kept."
The Sinn Fein chief negotiator said a huge political breakthrough was needed to push the peace process forward.
"The peace process is very important to all the people of this island," he said. "We intend to play our part in a very constructive way and we have urged both governments to put in place a very energetic plan to move things forward."
Mr McGuinness said Sinn Fein was involved in an ongoing and intensive series of meetings with the British and Irish government.
"It is about the bringing about of the full implementation of the Agreement," he said. "The government knows our view on it and what we are trying to do is bringing that about.
"We believe that we have done tremendous work over the course of the last 10 years and are looking to do more to continue."