A week after the worst atrocity carried out in the name of Irish republicanism in 30 years, the Taoiseach has rejected the perpetrators' claim to legitimacy and warned again they will be crushed if they persist in violence.
In a keynote speech last night to the Humbert Summer School in Ballina, Co Mayo, Mr Ahern declared: "There is one Government of the Republic, duly elected by the people."
He went on: "Further, we now have a democratic system in Northern Ireland that has been endorsed by the people, including the overwhelming majority from the nationalist and republican tradition, both North and South.
"Arguments about legitimacy, which have given rise to so much conflict since 1921, are over." Republicanism and democracy, he said, "must once again become one and indivisible".
As Mr Ahern was making his speech, it was learned that the Irish National Liberation Army is expected to call a cessation of its campaign from midnight tonight, which will mean that for the first time all terrorist groups are either on ceasefire or defunct.
The announcement would leave only one republican terrorist group, the so-called Continuity IRA, ostensibly still active.
However, senior Garda sources have said they believe it is effectively defunct and that its leading figure, a man from east Monaghan, and its few other active members have joined the `Real IRA', which declared its own cessation in the midst of the public outrage over Omagh.
Security sources have acknowledged that the `Real IRA' may be much larger than previously thought, with most of what was termed the Provisional IRA's "southern command" now giving it allegiance.
In his speech, which sought to characterise violent republicans as corrupters of a noble ideal, Mr Ahern highlighted the non-sectarian and democratic essence of genuine Irish republicanism.
Sending messages to both sides in the Northern conflict, Mr Ahern:
Warned fringe republican terrorists that the Government would "crush" violence, "suppress" its perpetrators and use all the powers it had to do so;
Implicitly called on the North's First Minister, Mr David Trimble, to engage in face-to-face talks with Sinn Fein leaders;
Warned against new preconditions for Sinn Fein participation in the Northern Executive, understood to be an implicit reference to IRA decommissioning;
Called on nationalists to display generosity and magnanimity towards unionists.
Mr Ahern said both the Government of the Republic and the political structures established by the Belfast Agreement had been elected and endorsed by the people.
"Never again must we allow a gap or conflict to open up between republicanism and democracy."
In a clear warning to dissident republicans, he said: "We shall not hesitate to use the powers vested in us in all their plenitude to defend peace and democracy on this island against any who may persist in defying the will of the people of Ireland."
And in a clear exhortation to the North's First Minister, Mr Trimble, to talk to Sinn Fein leaders, he said: "There has to be . . . an acceptance of responsibility to engage in inclusive dialogue, face to face, to build mutual confidence with courage and to work together."
He also warned against "introducing new, formal preconditions that are not in the Agreement."
Today tens of thousands of people throughout the island will stand for a minute's silence at 3.10 p.m., the precise time the bomb exploded in Omagh's Market Street last Saturday, killing 28 people and injuring more than 200.
Tomorrow hundreds of thousands, in churches of all denominations, North and South, will pray for the victims and their families.
The Taoiseach, the First Minister of Northern Ireland, Mr Trimble, and the Deputy First Minister, Mr Seamus Mallon, will attend a service in Omagh this afternoon. They will discuss the political and security situation afterwards in the town's district council offices. Mr Ahern yesterday appealed to people to try to attend the services that will take place all over the country in support of the people of Omagh.