The Taoiseach has acknowledged that the killing of Denis Donaldson will make talks on restoring power-sharing in the North more difficult, but has insisted that today's announcement of a new initiative by the Irish and British governments will go ahead.
As he and the British prime minister prepare to travel to Armagh today to announce the restoration of the Northern Assembly for a six-month period, Bertie Ahern said yesterday that whoever killed Mr Donaldson "was certainly no friend of the peace process or of anyone in this island".
He noted that the killing had been condemned by Sinn Féin and the IRA, and said he had "no idea" who was involved.
He told the Dáil yesterday that gardaí had visited Mr Donaldson and told him there was a perceived threat to his life after they became aware he was living near Glenties, Co Donegal, in January.
"They offered him advice on his personal security and gave him a telephone number for Glenties Garda station in case he had any concerns. The house where he lived received passing attention from the Garda on an ongoing basis."
He did not know whether the killing had been timed to affect today's announcement of efforts to restore the power-sharing institutions, but the unveiling of the two governments' plan would go ahead. "It certainly will make the talks more difficult. Something always happens to build up tension when talks are about to take place to try to deal with issues in Northern Ireland."
Sinn Féin's chief negotiator Martin McGuinness said the killing of Mr Donaldson was "not just an attack on him but an attack on the entire peace process". He did not have "any clue or notion whatsoever" as to who was responsible.
Speaking to reporters in Dublin, Mr McGuinness condemned "those who are opposed to progress within the peace and political process" who "have seized on all this in a highly-opportunistic way".
He said there was a heavy responsibility on all parties and the two governments "to ensure that there is forward movement within the process".
"We cannot be diverted, we cannot be deflected, we have to press on because it is the overwhelming desire of all of the people of this island, including, I believe, a majority in the North, that we see political progress as quickly as possible."
On whether the IRA was responsible for the killing of Mr Donaldson, he said this would be very stupid in the light of various moves made by the IRA to bring about progress.
The IRA had declared that its war was over, and had dealt with its weapons. People realised that "it is hardly likely that the IRA would take these enormous initiatives and then move on and do something stupid like attack Denis Donaldson".
He said there had been an unhappy relationship between Mr Donaldson and his "handlers" in British intelligence "so I think everybody would be very wise to keep an open mind about who murdered this man".