Sinn Féin has decided to cancel fundraising in the US during St Patrick's week, while party chief negotiator Martin McGuinness will not travel abroad this year because of the current "grave" political situation.
But despite the continuing political upheaval, high-level contacts between the Sinn Féin leadership and the British government is continuing, it was reported last night.
British prime minister Tony Blair's chief of staff, Jonathan Powell, was in recent discussions with Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams and Mr McGuinness when the Sinn Féin leadership travelled to London for talks last week, UTV reported.
Both governments have made clear to Sinn Féin that the key to political movement some time after the British general election, expected in May, continues to rest on the IRA decommissioning and ending paramilitarism and criminality.
Mr Adams, who addresses his party ardfheis in Dublin on Saturday, will travel to Washington and a number of other cities during St Patrick's week.
Unlike many previous years, however, there will be no White House reception with President Bush involving Mr Adams or the other Northern political leaders because of the tumult surrounding the Northern Bank robbery, the murder of Robert McCartney and alleged IRA money laundering.
A Sinn Féin spokesman said Mr Adams flies out on March 12th for a series of speaking engagements and meetings with the Irish-American community, American political leaders and US government officials.
His schedule includes visits to Cincinnati, New York, Washington, New Jersey, Philadelphia and Cleveland. On March 14th he will address the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.
But, again unlike in previous years, there will be no Sinn Féin fundraising this time. The spokesman said the party decided last week to change planned fundraising events into speaking engagements.
"Initially many of the planned events were to be fundraisers. However, the party leadership was concerned that there was a likelihood that fundraising would become a contentious issue for the US government, and a distraction therefore from the necessary work of rebuilding the peace process. The party leadership decided that no fundraising will be done at this time," he said.
Mr McGuinness will not travel abroad this St Patrick's period, the spokesman said. "The political situation is much too grave for both Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness to be out of Ireland at the same time," he added.
"Mr Adams will engage with a wide range of US political and Irish-American opinion. This will provide him with an opportunity to outline Sinn Féin's view of the current situation and our efforts to put the peace process back on track."
Meanwhile, Ulster Unionist Assembly member Michael McGimpsey said the onus was now on republicans to prove themselves, as unionists "had lost all trust in them and had no intention of sitting in a executive with them again".
"If republicans had done what they were meant to do and stood the IRA down eight years ago, Robert McCartney would still be alive today, the biggest bank robbery in British history wouldn't have happened and the chances are devolution would have been bedded down and politics here would be working," he added.
Mr McGimpsey said it was now up to the British and Irish governments to exert pressure on republicans.
"The two prime ministers know that there is no appetite in the unionist community for a return to the power-sharing arrangements envisaged in the agreement."
