The question of inviting Sinn Féin leaders to the White House on St Patrick's Day is strictly a matter for "President Bush and his team".
This is the position being taken by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Dermot Ahern, during his visit to the US this week for meetings with top officials and politicians.
After a wide-ranging discussion on UN matters in New York today with the Secretary General, Mr Kofi Annan, Mr Ahern travels to Washington for a round of talks tomorrow and Thursday with senior politicians and officials. The principal item on his itinerary is tomorrow's meeting with President Bush's special envoy for Northern Ireland, Dr Mitchell Reiss.
The latest report of the International Monitoring Commission is expected to be made public on Thursday, while Mr Ahern is still in the US.
Newspaper reports indicate that the IMC will blame the IRA for the €38 million robbery at the Northern Bank and will recommend sanctions in the form of a pay cut for Sinn Féin members of the Northern Ireland Assembly.
At a working lunch in Washington tomorrow, Mr Ahern will brief Dr Reiss about the Government's position on the crisis in the peace process and the two men will review the latest developments. They will hold a press conference afterwards.
As special envoy, Dr Reiss was heavily involved in attempts at the end of last year to bring about agreement between Sinn Féin and the Democratic Unionist Party. He is moving from his position as director of policy planning at the US State Department back into academic life but will remain as special envoy for the time being.
On the issue of inviting Sinn Féin leaders to the traditional White House reception on St Patrick's Day, a spokesman for the Minister said, "Who gets invited to the White House is entirely a matter for President Bush and his team".
In an editorial at the weekend, the influential Washington Post urged the President to refrain from inviting the "bosses" of what it called "an organised crime syndicate", namely, the IRA, to the White House.
Mr Ahern will also meet key politicians with an interest in Northern Ireland, including Senators Edward Kennedy, John McCain, Hillary Clinton, Chris Dodd and possibly Patrick Leahy. He will hold talks with Congressman James Walsh, chairman of the Friends of Ireland group, and make a courtesy call on the speaker of the House of Representatives, Congressman Dennis Hastert, who will host a St Patrick's Day lunch next month. The Minister is also expected to meet Irish-American Congressmen Richard Neale and Peter King.
As well as briefing US politicians, Mr Ahern will be interested in hearing from them how recent events such as the Belfast bank robbery are being received politically in the US.
The US State Department last week described as "unwelcome" the IRA's announcement that it was withdrawing its offer to decommission weapons. Mr Ahern has stressed the need for "cool heads" at this juncture in the peace process.
Reflecting his involvement in the relief effort after the tsunami disaster in south east Asia, Mr Ahern will have talks tomorrow morning with Mr Andrew Natsios, head of the main official US development agency, USAID.
The meeting was sought by Mr Ahern and this is the first time in recent memory that an Irish minister for foreign affairs has met a top US development agency official. The purpose of the meeting, according to a spokesman for the Minister, is to "explore ways the two countries' relief efforts might be better co-ordinated".