New peace deal 'must end paramilitarism': Ahern

But he also stressed, in a radio interview broadcast in Northern Ireland, the importance of an end to all paramilitary activity and disarmament taking place quickly as a result of any deal.

“I don’t want to be too specific but we have to make sure first of all that paramilitarism from all shades, from all sectors, is finalised and put aside and all weapons are decommissioned in the shortest timescale as possible. That is what we are working to and we agree with the DUP and other parties in this respect.

“From here on in we will be sitting down with the other parties in the very near future and I will also be meeting with the Secretary of State Paul Murphy as soon as he recovers from his illness.”

Mr Ahern was commenting after US President George Bush’s special envoy to Northern Ireland claimed in New York that republicans were on the verge of an historic transformation.

Ambassador Mitchell Reiss told the National Committee on American Foreign Policy: “Perhaps most importantly, the talks at Leeds Castle demonstrated that the republican movement is now on the verge of an historic transformation.

“Ten years after the first IRA ceasefire, Irish republicans have indicated that they are willing to pursue their objectives exclusively through the democratic process.

“In Sinn Féin parlance, the ballot box has displaced the Armalite.”

Bertie Ahern and Tony Blair claimed at the conclusion of the Leeds Castle talks in Kent two weeks ago that the thorny issues of IRA disarmament and future paramilitary activity appeared to be resolved.

However, the two governments were unable to get the Northern Ireland Assembly parties to sign up to a deal over power-sharing after unionists and nationalists clashed over future devolved institutions.

The Rev Paisley has also continued to react sceptically to claims that the IRA is poised to announce it is winding down.

However, Ambassador Reiss insisted republican commitment to exclusively peaceful and democratic means was a result of Sinn Fein’s electoral growth on both sides of the border and international demands that there should be no more links to terrorism in the wake of the 9/11 and Madrid attacks.

He told an audience in New York, which included Sinn Féin’s Mitchel McLaughlin and Martin Ferris: “As those who follow this process closely know, republican thinking has been moving towards this point for some time, but Leeds Castle will likely be remembered as the moment when this strategy was formally accepted as official policy.

“It is critical that we work to ensure that the republican movement follows through on this commitment and that all the loyalist paramilitary groups follow the lead of the IRA.

“We must also make sure that the devolved institutions are restored in a stable manner that fully preserves power-sharing, a fundamental principle of the Agreement.”

Ambassador Reiss also welcomed the transformation taking place in policing in Northern Ireland, stressing the success of accountability and oversight structures.

He praised the SDLP, the Irish Government and Catholic Church in Northern Ireland for taking the courageous step of signing up to new policing arrangements in 2001.

But he also criticised Sinn Féin for remaining on the sidelines while the transformation of the police took place and claimed it had undermined progress.

“This has slowed the PSNI’s progress and reduced nationalism’s influence on the new policing institutions,” the US State Department official claimed.

“I hope the Leeds Castle talks signal a change in Sinn Féin’s approach to this issue. I believe that Irish-America shares this view, as articulated in a Boston Globe editorial last week calling on Sinn Féin to join the policing oversight bodies.”