The Taoiseach has held talks with UUP leader Mr David Trimble in Dublin today ahead of the inevitable suspension of the power-sharing executive early next week.
During the75-minute meeting, Mr Trimble outlined his view that suspension of the Assembly was not the right way to respond to discoveries made when police raided Sinn Fein's parliamentary offices last week.
Speaking after the meeting, Mr Trimble said suspension was "very much a second-best option".
He said moves towards suspension of the assembly, which appeared to be the favoured course of both the British and Irish governments was "wrong as a matter of principle."
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He said: "It [suspension] does not sort out the problem, which is continued paramilitary activity. The basic fact remains that four-and-a-half years into a transition, that which should have been done - that which the agreement provided for within two years - has not been done".
Mr Trimble firmly ruled out suggestions that a joint Dublin-London authority, operating through the Anglo-Irish Conference, might assume of the role of the Northern Ireland Assembly. "That would be running contrary to the agreement - there is no basis for it at all," he said.
"It is an act of utter folly to continue in that way. If it [the Agreement] is torn up for that reason, you might find it is torn up more comprehensively".
But he did not rule out suggestions that a "shadow" administration could operate, saying only: "I don't want to go into the technicalities.
"Our view, as expressed here today, is that suspension is very much a second-best option. We would prefer to see the right approach adopted and the consequences of this criminality be visited on those responsible for it".