The Taoiseach is to reconvene the Forum for Peace and Reconciliation in a bid to bring some momentum to the stalled peace process, it emerged last night.
A Government spokeswoman confirmed that preliminary discussions are taking place with a view to having a meeting of the forum before Christmas.
She said parties both North and South were being consulted about a meeting following the recent suspension of the North's institutions.
Mr Ahern made a brief reference in the Dáil last week to the possibility of reconvening the forum. He said there had been various expressions of interest in going down that road.
During a debate on the North, the Fine Gael leader, Mr Enda Kenny, said there was no plan B for the Belfast Agreement and called on the Government to consider reconvening the forum.
He said there was "no escape from the agreement as the sole hope of Northern Ireland. There is nothing else.
"It if is to work now, and it must, there can be no more deadlines, no more posturing."
Last week the North's outgoing Deputy First Minister and SDLP leader, Mr Mark Durkan, also backed reconvening the forum, saying it could play a role in bolstering the pro-agreement parties on an all-Ireland basis.
In an interview with The Irish Times, Mr Durkan said: "It provides a useful reminder that the agreement belongs to the people of Ireland and was mandated by them."
He added that the forum underlined the contribution to the political process by the parties in the Republic.