Sinn Féin will resist pressure from the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, and the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, to blame republicans for the political stalemate in the peace process talks at Hillsborough Castle today, Mr Martin McGuinness has asserted.
Little concrete progress is expected this afternoon from Mr Ahern's and Mr Blair's trilateral meetings with the political parties, but the two leaders in particular hope to impress upon Sinn Féin that without an end to IRA activity there is little chance of achieving a breakthrough in the weeks and months ahead.
"The focus will be on ending all forms of paramilitarism and winning guarantees that unionists would share power with Sinn Féin if the IRA ended activity. I think it's fair to say that there will be frank talking from Bertie Ahern and Tony Blair with Sinn Féin," said a senior Dublin source last night.
"The Taoiseach in particular will warn about the dangers of a political vacuum coming into the summer if there is no progress," the source added.
Mr Ahern will be joined by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, and the Minister of Justice, Mr McDowell, who has been harshly critical of republicans, alleging that the IRA is involved in various kinds of criminality and that some of these proceeds are funding Sinn Féin.
It is not clear, however, whether Mr McDowell will attend the Ahern-Blair trilateral meeting with Sinn Féin, although such is the layout of Hillsborough Castle that the Minister may come into contact with the Sinn Féin president, Mr Gerry Adams, and Mr McGuinness.
Mr McGuinness indicated that Sinn Féin would challenge the governments' attempt to blame chiefly republicans for the deadlock. "I reject absolutely their assertions that the greatest problem in terms of paramilitarism is from the IRA. The IRA is no threat to the peace process in my view," said Mr McGuinness.
"Over 90 per cent of violence has come out of the unionist community over the last 12 months, with seven people dead and over 180 attacks, and of course no one has been killed by the IRA," he added.
Mr McGuinness would not detail what Sinn Féin might say or do to persuade the IRA to help push politics forward. "There is a collective responsibility on everyone to use their influence. Tony Blair has to use his influence with the IRA, so has the Taoiseach. We all have to work together to try to make this work," he said.
"It will fail if the whole \ is based on pointing the finger at the IRA, the group that has made the greatest contribution in this process over the course of the last 10 years," added Mr McGuinness.
He said Sinn Féin was prepared to explore whether the DUP was prepared to strike a deal with republicans.
Mr Gregory Campbell, the DUP MP for East Derry, said that in the "next couple of weeks" his party would publish its proposals on North-South and British-Irish matters, which follow on from the party's Devolution Now paper published in February.
Mr Campbell said the IRA clearly was still active and the DUP was utterly opposed to loyalist violence. "It is wrong, it should stop, it is to be condemned, and anyone who has information about it should give it to the police to bring those responsible to justice. We can't be any more explicit than that. If Sinn Féin was as explicit about republican violence as we are about loyalist violence, then we could all move forward."
The DUP leader, the Rev Ian Paisley, said that today Mr Ahern and Mr Blair must "demonstrate to Sinn Féin/IRA that the threat of terror will no longer buy them further concessions.
"Except actions are forthcoming the people of Northern Ireland will have to awaken to the fact that Blair is unchanged, and that Ahern is unchanged."
