The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dermot Ahern, and the Northern Secretary, Peter Hain, met a number of Northern Ireland's political parties in Hillsborough in Co Down today. Parades and policing dominated the talks.
The DUP did not attend the talks but the party is due to meet the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, on Friday.
Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness said the DUP staying away from the talks did not represent their promise of a new confident form of unionism.
He added that his party's representation in the Dáil would be significantly increased in the aftermath of any election and it would be up to all parties to decide how to deal with that.
On loyalism, Mr Hain said that if the members of the Ulster Defence Association were turning their backs on 'murder and gangsterism' to go down the political road, then he was happy to take them with him.
Early next year, the two governments are expected to make a push to get meaningful progress if the Independent Monitoring Commission can report that the IRA is delivering on its promises.
