The Sinn Fein leader, Mr Gerry Adams, said yesterday it was not too late to end the crisis in the Northern peace process.
"But I do think it is approaching a very difficult point," he added. "That is the reason why we sat down on Monday morning and decided to renew contact with the British."
Mr Adams was speaking in Dublin before meeting the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern. He said the focus of the meeting would be to find a way to remove obstacles to the successful working of the peace process. "In a sentence, it is getting back to the May deal, and getting the British government to keep the commitments it made to the Irish Government at that time."
He said that just before Christmas, the British had abruptly ended discussions with Sinn Fein, which had commenced on the eve of President Clinton's visit to Ireland. "Over the Christmas period, we reflected on all of this, and the potential of a rolling crisis in the process had become clear. So we decided this week to resume contact with the British and make another effort to sort matters out.
"We have had a number of points of contacts with the British this week. We have had very intense discussions with the Irish Government and contact with the White House.
"I would not underestimate the difficulties. On the one hand, you have the First Minister having disenfranchised the Sinn Fein electorate and fractured the all-Ireland bodies by refusing to nominate the party's two Ministers.
"You have the ongoing stance of the British government, the crux issue of policing, with Peter Mandelson refusing to develop and build on a new beginning. There are the problems surrounding demilitarisation."
