The Reverend Ian Paisley was tonight urged to engage Sinn Féin in direct dialogue ahead of next month's crucial talks to revive power-sharing in Northern Ireland.
Embattled Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, who earlier faced questions in the Dáil cash he received from wealthy friends in the early 90s, admitted he was worried by the lack of direct engagement between the parties ahead of the talks in St Andrews in Scotland on October 11th.
However he also warned Northern Ireland's politicians that as far as he and Prime Minister Tony Blair were concerned, their November 24th deadline for the resurrection of a power-sharing government at Stormont was definitive.
Mr Ahern told Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny: "I regret the continuing absence of direct engagement between the DUP and Sinn Fein.
"It is unhelpful to the process of getting an agreement and I have urged the DUP to engage."