Sinn Féin faces "total exclusion" in the United States unless the IRA disbands and ends criminality, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has said following a White House meeting with President Bush, write Mark Hennessy and Conor O'Clery in Washington
Emphasising that patience in Washington was wearing thin with continuing difficulties in the peace process, Mr Ahern said every leading US figure he had spoken to wanted to "see action now".
Meanwhile, Mr Ahern has moved to increase significantly pressure on the British government to hold a full sworn public inquiry into the 1989 killing of Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane.
President Bush, who was said to be "extremely receptive" to the Taoiseach's position on the Finucane inquiry, is to raise the issue with British prime minister Tony Blair.
Under legislation before the House of Commons, a judge heading such an inquiry could be prevented from hearing some evidence in public, and from hearing other evidence at all.
Canadian judge Peter Cory, who recommended the holding of a full inquiry, has told a Congress hearing that the British proposal would lead to a "meaningless" investigation.
Paying tribute to the Taoiseach for his "tireless work in the struggle against terrorism", President Bush said the US "will stand with you" in the effort to "walk the path of peace".
Speaking after a 45-minute meeting with President Bush, the Taoiseach warned that US leaders wanted to see the full implementation of the Good Friday agreement quickly. "If we don't, let's be frank about it: the icy reception of this week will turn into total exclusion which is the opposite of what I want to achieve.
"I don't think that they want to see us back here again saying that we have a few items outstanding."
The reception was attended by the five sisters and partner of Robert McCartney, who was killed by IRA members in Belfast, and by Ms Ann McCabe, the widow of Det Garda Jerry McCabe.
Praising the bravery of the McCartneys and the dead man's partner, Ms Bridgeen Hagans, President Bush said he was glad to be able to show "solidarity and support for them". Making a point of speaking to the women a second time as he left, Mr Bush said he had been "extremely impressed" by the stand they had taken since the brutal January killing.
Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams and other Northern Ireland political party leaders were not invited this year to the White House, which wished principally to signal frustration about Sinn Féin.
Despite being excluded, Mr Adams has been backed by a number of long-time supporters in Congress, such as Peter King and Richie Neal.
Both men, and others, have been deeply angered by the blunt attack on Sinn Féin and the IRA made by Republican senator John McCain at the American Ireland Fund on Wednesday night.
In a sharply worded speech, Senator McCain said no one could now describe the IRA as "anything better than a criminal syndicate that steals and murders to serve members' personal interests".
Yesterday Congressman King, who emphasised he wanted the IRA to disband, said Senator McCain should have noted "the tremendous input" of Mr Adams in the peace process.
At a well-attended breakfast with the Friends of Sinn Féin organisation yesterday, Mr Adams said "that killings should not happen, bank robberies should not happen ... But I don't know anywhere in the world where events that happen are used to tear down a peace process."