A joint appeal has been made by the Irish and British leaders to other EU heads of state to maintain their financial support for the Northern peace process.
In a common letter, addressed through the German presidency in the last couple of weeks, Mr Ahern and Mr Blair are understood to have expressed gratitude for EU financial help for the peace process so far and made the case for continued funding at current levels.
The North's First Minister, Mr David Trimble, expressed confidence in Brussels yesterday that this support will be forthcoming.
Success, in the form of a new special fund for the North, will be a major prize in the face of likely cuts in structural funding under Agenda 2000.
Mr Trimble was in Brussels, with the Deputy First Minister, Mr Seamus Mallon, and the Northern Ireland Minister for European Affairs, Mr Paul Murphy, to lobby the Commission for the continuation of special assistance.
In a significant tactical shift, Mr Trimble acknowledged that aid might not necessarily take the form of continued Objective 1 status.
It could be more easily secured by making the case for Northern Ireland's "unique" post-violence situation.
The Commission is opposed to any exceptions to eligibility rules for Objective 1 funding, fearing they will set precedents.
Mr Trimble said: "If there are other ways of achieving the same objective we will look at them - the key thing is maintaining the same level of support."
Mr Mallon said that they did not want to be squeezed in broader arguments about the new Objective 1 rules but to "make it easier" for the Commission to respond to a specific case for help.
The peace and reconciliation fund had helped the transition from violence to peace, he said, while a new fund would bring the North "from peace to viability".
Publicly the Commission is now only willing to commit itself to new Northern funding based on the North's status as an "Objective 1 region in transition" - a phased reduction in the maximum levels of cash aid over five years - and on an expanded Interreg programme (the EU cross-Border programmes that are to be significantly expanded in Agenda 2000).
Diplomats report considerable sympathy in the Commission and at meetings of EU ambassadors for doing more, but it is not clear what.
Mr Trimble made clear that they are hoping for a programme that will last up to six years and cover a full range of programmes from the transformation of the security industry to tourism infrastructure.
The Northern Ireland group flies on today to Bonn to meet the German presidency and Bundestag members.
