Thursday's meeting between the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, and British Prime Minister Tony Blair could be the most crucial since the peace process began, Sinn Féin president, Mr Gerry Adams believes.
Speaking after a party delegation met the Taoiseach and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Brian Cowen, the Sinn Féin leader said the power to keep the process moving forward lay firmly with the British government. But he also hit out at the Irish government claiming officials were giving off the record press briefings which he said were "unhelpful".
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Ahead of Thursday's meeting, Mr Adams tried to put pressure on Mr Blair by saying he must show his government's commitment to fully implementing the Belfast Agreement.
Mr Adams said: "The British government haven't shown a willingness, beyond rhetoric, to deal with outstanding matters. There is still no evidence that they are going to fulfill their obligations on a range of issues including policing, demilitarisation, human rights and equality.
"We need to see an action plan from the British government for the implementation of the Agreement, including the substance of outstanding issues, timeframes and the management of the process to bring all of this about."
He also dismissed press reports of a significant IRA move. And clearly annoyed by the press speculation, he expressed his concern at claims made in weekend newspaper reports suggesting a move in the next few weeks.
"I am gravely concerned and I intend to raise this as a serious matter: that there appears to be an ongoing briefing to media, obviously coming from Dublin," he said.
He said his party is ready to work to "end the current impasse in the peace process" and, in a clear reference to unionists, urged others to do the same.
The Ulster Unionists and the Progressive Unionists both refused to participate in multi-party talks at Stormont yesterday while the Democratic Unionists have boycotted all talks on the Belfast Agreement.
The rest of the week will see a further series of meetings with the Taoiseach meeting SDLP leader, Mr Mark Durkan, tomorrow before travelling to London on Thursday for a meeting with the Ulster Unionist Party leader, Mr David Trimble, followed by talks with Mr Blair.
Talks between the governments and the pro-agreement parties are scheduled for January 30th in Belfast.
Additional reporting PA