The Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, and the Northern Secretary, Mr Peter Mandelson, yesterday held a security meeting which was attended by the Garda Commissioner, Mr Pat Byrne, and the RUC Chief Constable, Sir Ronnie Flanagan.
After the meeting at Hillsborough Castle, Co Down, the two Ministers last night issued a statement describing the talks as "extremely useful and constructive".
"Today's meeting was extremely useful and constructive and formed part of the ongoing contact between the two governments. The two Ministers reviewed the overall level of threat, commended the continuing co-operation between the RUC and Garda Siochana and pledged their continued support for those efforts," the statement concluded.
It is believed the two governments and their security advisers assessed the actions of dissident republicans and the shooting of a "Real IRA" member, Mr Joseph O'Connor, in west Belfast last Friday.
Despite a denial by the Provisional IRA that it was involved in Mr O'Connor's death, sources close to republican paramilitaries believe the Provisionals might have played a part in the shooting, possibly sparking a feud.
The progress of the investigation into the Omagh bombing was also likely to have been high on the Ministers' agenda.
Another issue likely to have been discussed was the prospect of another independent inspection of Provisional IRA weapons' dumps by the international arms inspectors, the former Finnish president, Mr Martti Ahtisaari, and Mr Cyril Ramaphosa, from the African National Congress.