Adams and Ahern meet in Dublin

Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams is meeting Bertie Ahern in Dublin this evening to discuss the latest crisis in the peace process.

The 1998 Good Friday Agreement is on the brink of collapse following last Friday’s raid on Sinn Féin’s offices in Stormont in connection with alleged IRA intelligence gathering.

Tomorrow, the Northern Assembly will debate a motion to expel Sinn Féin from the power-sharing Executive.

Speaking ahead of this evening’s meeting, Mr Adams said the problem has to be sorted out, but he said this can only be done if there is a will to find a solution.

Meanwhile, Labour Party leader Ruairi Quinn has called for “ cool heads and calm words” in dealing with the fallout from last Friday’s raid.

It is still unclear what was on computer disks seized from the Sinn Féin office, but the party’s administrator at Stormont, Denis Donaldson, has been charged in court in connection with documents seized during a separate raid in Belfast on the same day.

The raids were part of an investigation into suspicions that a former employee at the British Government offices in Castle Buildings had passed sensitive information to the IRA.

Mr Quinn said today that the current crisis, which has led to unionists threatening a mass walkout from the power-sharing Executive, is the most serious challenge to the Good Friday Agreement since 1998.

“It is a time for cool heads and calm words on all sides,” he said.

“It is also a time for everyone to keep their eyes on the big picture and ensure that all of the progress made over the past four years is not swept away in the welter of charge and counter-charge that we have seen since last Friday.”

Mr Quinn called on the Irish Government to do all in its power to prevent a political disaster in the North, saying its loyalty must be to the democratic principles contained in the agreement.