Despite the "dark and deadly times" of the last week in Northern Ireland, there was now a real opportunity to make significant progress in the peace talks, the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, has said. But he warned that this opportunity would not stay around for ever.
Speaking on RTE radio yesterday, the Taoiseach agreed that it had been a bad week for the peace process, but those who wished to create a lasting peace on the island had to keep working at it.
"I do believe, despite all the atrocities and all the terrible deeds over the last week, and nobody should underestimate how serious they are in what we're trying to do, that if we're brave, if we're prepared to take some of these knocks on the chin and if we bounce back, there is a real opportunity now, not for ever, a real opportunity now, to make significant progress in the early months of 1998. It will not stay around for ever."
Next week they would be resuming the talks. They had to reflect on the events of the last week and put them in the context of what was going to happen in 1998.
"I believe we must stop talking of lack of participation in the talks process or accusing people of `exit strategies' and stop suspecting everybody else of ulterior motives and stop talking about resignations and recriminations, because all of that means we lose confidence in making decisions," he said. While he kept in touch with Mr Tony Blair, they also had to have confidence-building measures from all the parties in the talks.
"What the parties have to decide is are we going to allow the agenda to be run by the INLA or the LVF? Are we going to allow them to wreck the peace process? Are we going to allow the political agenda of this island of Ireland to be driven by small, unelected people who have no coherent political strategy or philosophy other than killing people, and I think we have to look at that stark reality.
"We're no longer talking about mainstream republican or loyalist groups, we're talking about two new, smaller fringe groups who do not stand for elections, who never stand for elections, who don't participate in the democratic process or, if they do, only in a very slight way.
"Random shooting is a disgrace and every other adjective you can think and it is nothing to do with defending either Catholics, Protestants or Christians. It is the most unchristian thing for anyone to be involved in and sectarianism reflects badly on all of us in this country and no excuses can be made by anybody or for anybody for these kinds of actions.
"If some people want to talk outside of the party structure, outside of the talks structure, on the margins of that, I have no difficulty with that. What is important is that we all understand what everybody else is doing."
Mr Ahern said he had received two "concrete offers" to hold the talks in neutral venues. He said "Austria and Finland, at head of government level", had offered that, but they would have to reach the drafting stages first.