The Northern Secretary, Paul Murphy, has indicated the British Prime Minister may soon make a public apology to relatives of Guiseppe Conlon.
Mr Conlon was wrongly jailed in England in the 1970s in connection with the Guildford pub bombing and later died in prison.
His son, Gerry Conlon, was also wrongly jailed after the 1974 Guildford attack.
Gerry Conlon was one of four people imprisoned for the IRA bombing at a public house in Guildford, in which four British soldiers and a civilian were killed. Their convictions were quashed in 1989.
Guiseppe Conlon travelled to London in December 1974 following the arrest of his son, Gerry, who was accused of bomb attacks in Guildford and Woolwich the previous month.
He was arrested along with members of Annie Maguire's family after they were allegedly identified as being involved in the bomb plot in confessions extracted by the police.
Mr Conlon suffered from poor health but, according to his family, when imprisoned he did not receive the medical attention his condition required.
Now, 25 years after his premature death in prison in 1980 at the age of 56, his family is pressing the British government to publicly apologise for his wrongful imprisonment.
The 'Maguire Seven', as they were known, had their convictions successfully overturned in June 1991.
Last week the Taoiseach met Gerry Conlon and his mother, Sarah, in Dublin.
They were assured Mr Ahern would raise the issue of a public apology by the British government when he meets Tony Blair at Downing Street tomorrow.
