Northern Ireland elections can only be held if there is a credible chance of an executive being formed afterwards, the Taoiseach Mr Ahern said today.
After talks with his British counterpart Tony Blair at Chequers last night, Mr Ahern today said he wanted the poll to take place before Christmas.
It came as the Government prepared for an intense week of discussions with party leaders in Dublin.
Mr Ahern said: "We want to have an election this side of Christmas.
"We want to have the prospect that the election would give us an executive, a power-sharing executive, and we want to see that they will implement a programme for government that will give stability in Northern Ireland, and not have the stop-start crises, mini crises and major crises, that we have continued to have."
The Irish and British governments are stepping up efforts to restore the Northern Ireland Assembly after the executive stumbled in May following the cancellation of the elections at the request of Mr Blair.
Devolution in Northern Ireland has been suspended since last October amid allegations of an IRA spy ring operating at Stormont.
Speaking on RTE radio today, Mr Ahern confirmed he and Mr Blair had agreed on a road map for the month ahead.
He said: "We know what we want to achieve. Obviously I'm determined that we do have elections but also conscious that to achieve that position we want to make sure that elections will lead us to a working executive."
The Taoiseach (correct) said he would be stressing this in forthcoming meetings with the different parties, and said their support was essential.
He added: "It would be wrong to say there is a done deal, but unless both of us are really wrong, there is a determination by all the parties to have an election early and to try to make sure that the spirit of the Good Friday Agreement and the spirit of the Assembly working with an executive and working in a joint way is there.
"Nobody has given me an alternative view to that. So our problem clearly is can we go into elections and come to the other side of the elections in reasonable certainty ... that we can get an executive up and running?"
Mr Ahern is set to meet Ulster Unionist Party leader David Trimble tomorrow. On Tuesday the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, will meet the SDLP, and he will then meet Northern Ireland Secretary Paul Murphy on Thursday.
The Taoiseach commended both republicans and loyalists for making this summer the calmest "since the mid-60s".
"Now we have stability on the streets, now we have to get political stability," he said.
PA