The Taoiseach and the North's First Minister will hold talks today immediately after the Cabinet meeting which is expected to endorse tough new measures to deal with terrorism.
The meeting between Mr Ahern and Mr David Trimble is designed to stress the unity of nationalists and unionists in supporting the Belfast Agreement. The Dail and Seanad are expected to be recalled from holiday within the next 12 days to pass the necessary legislation. Extra resources are likely to be granted to the security forces.
In another strong indicator of the determination of the Irish and British governments to bring the perpetrators of Saturday's Omagh bombing to justice, it was announced yesterday that anti-terrorist officers from London's Metropolitan Police will travel to Northern Ireland later today to assist the RUC in its investigation.
The officers, who have experience in dealing with bombings such as those at Canary Wharf and Bishopsgate in London, were requested by the RUC Chief Constable, Mr Ronnie Flanagan.
Mr Flanagan said their experience would be valuable in identifying evidence at the scene among the tons of rubble left behind after Saturday's bomb. A spokesman for Scotland Yard said last night the Metropolitan Police will also assist the Garda Siochana where necessary. "The priority is to get the job done," he said.
On his return from Buncrana, Co Donegal, yesterday where he had sympathised with families of three young boys killed in the blast, Mr Ahern welcomed the statement by the Irish Republican Socialist Party which called on the INLA to end its campaign of violence.
He suggested that a positive statement should be made by the INLA before today's Cabinet meeting in order to ensure that its members would not be affected by the Government's move to "crush" the "Real IRA" and its political wing, the 32 County Sovereignty Movement. He hoped for a similar ceasefire response from the Continuity IRA.
A statement from the "Real IRA" yesterday in which it admitted responsibility for the Omagh bombing and expressed regret at the civilian casualties was rejected out of hand by politicians on both sides of the Border.
The Northern Secretary, Dr Mo Mowlam, said it was a "pathetic attempt to apologise for and excuse mass murder", adding that people would have "absolute contempt" for the apology contained in the statement.
A spokesman for the Government said the explanations and excuses offered by the "Real IRA" were cold comfort to bereaved people. "What do you expect if you place a bomb in a busy town? It always carries the risk of major casualties," he said.
The North's Deputy First Minister, Mr Seamus Mallon, said the statement scarcely deserved a reply: "It is an attempt to excuse the inexcusable." And the deputy leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, Mr Peter Robinson, said the statement, which referred to the "ongoing war against the Brits", was more of a threat than an apology.
Fine Gael and the Labour Party also strongly dismissed the "Real IRA" statement and assured the Government that its package of security measures would not be resisted by the Opposition when the Dail is recalled.
The Labour Party leader, Mr Ruairi Quinn, said no attempt by the "Real IRA" to shift responsibility for its heinous crimes could be given any credence. It was waging a campaign which had been overwhelmingly rejected by the Irish people and it had no right to act as the self-appointed arbiter of the destiny of this country.
The Fine Gael spokesman on Northern Ireland, Mr Charlie Flanagan, described the apology as "grossly offensive" and said all the public wished to hear from that organisation was a statement that its war was over. The apology added further offence and insult to the bereaved and the victims.