Two senior ministers have warned the republican movement that the Belfast bank raid had done serious damage to the Northern peace process.
Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dermot Ahern, and Justice Minister Michael McDowell were speaking after separate talks with Northern Secretary Paul Murphy.
Mr Ahern said the raid which had dealt a very serious blow to the political process meant it could not be business as usual between the Government and Sinn Féin.
He also said that when the Irish people voted for the Good Friday Agreement they had not voted for bank robberies as part of the process.
He warned republicans the governments would now have to raise the bar - as he put it - when they came to framing any future agreement on that issue.
Mr McDowell said that the fact that the provisionals could not sign up to the definition of criminality in last month’s abortive agreement 'spoke volumes'. However, the door is being left open for dialogue, despite a call from DUP leader Ian Paisley for the British government to shun Sinn Féin.
Mr Ahern confirmed that the Taoiseach will be meeting the party leadership on his return from the Far East next week.
