The Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, and the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, are to review the situation in Northern Ireland later this week.
Mr Ahern has a number of official engagements in Britain on Thursday and a meeting with Mr Blair at Downing Street is being added to the list.
The matters they will review will include the Robert McCartney murder investigation and the Garda/PSNI money laundering inquiry in the wake of the Northern Bank robbery.
Nobody in London or Dublin holds out any prospect for the revival of devolved government at Stormont before Westminster and local elections in Northern Ireland.
But Mr Ahern and Mr Blair will be aware of the considerable support across the political spectrum to see the issues of paramilitarism and criminality addressed in a decisive way.
They will also have noted the comments of DUP leader Ian Paisley in recent days in which he said if Sinn Féin abandon criminality and insurrection then he would share power with republicans.
Mr Paisley added that all sides involved in such a power sharing arrangement would have to accept the need to pursue only democratic means.
