The Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and British Prime Minister Tony Blair have confirmed that assembly elections in Northern Ireland will go ahead as planned on March 7th.
The announcement was made this evening after the two men met in Downing Street.
They warned, however, that if it became clear that there would be no power-sharing government, they would pull the plug on plans for an election.
"The assembly election, due to be held on March 7th, is an integral part of the process and timetable agreed at St Andrew's," said Mr Blair.
"It is being held for the explicit purposes of endorsing the St Andrew's Agreement and of electing the assembly that will form a power-sharing executive on March 26th in accordance with that agreement and time frame," he said.
Asked whether he thought DUP leader Ian Paisley was ready to go into government with Sinn Fein, Mr Ahern said: "I'm satisfied that he's signed up to the St Andrew's agreement if the issue of policing was dealt with. And it has been."
"If there isn't an executive elected by March 26th the whole thing falls apart. I don't think any politician wants that," he said.
Today's meeting followed the release of a new report by Northern Ireland's ceasefire watchdog, the Independent Monitoring Commission and was the first time the two men have met following Sinn Féin's endorsement of the Police Service of Northern Ireland.
Mr Blair and Mr Ahern have long believed that Sinn Féin support for the police was essential if the DUP were to be persuaded to form a devolved government.
DUP leader the Rev Ian Paisley yesterday acknowledged Sinn Féin's new policy was a step forward.
However, Dr Paisley warned republicans that he was not prepared to accept a "post-dated cheque," with Sinn Féin only moving on support for police in the event of a devolved government being formed.
Mr Adams responded that he and his colleagues would urge their community to co-operate with the police on crimes such as rape and aggravated burglary.
With the writ for a new Assembly election due to be moved tomorrow, Northern Ireland politicians were preparing for an election in anticipation of the prime minister confirming March 7th would be polling day.
But British government sources insisted nothing should be taken for granted.
Mr Adams will today meet members of the Methodist Church before heading to another session with his party's national executive to discuss how they will implement the motion passed at their special conference in Dublin on Sunday.
Additional reporting: PA