The Taoiseach has again urged the DUP and Sinn Féin to engage with each other as preparations are made for the resumption of the Assembly on May 15th.
Speaking to reporters yesterday he said the "marching season" was approaching and this was "always a new concern". However, Mr Ahern said some positive things had been said recently, noting remarks by DUP deputy leader Peter Robinson and Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams.
Mr Robinson said last week that his party was willing to share power with Sinn Féin but would have to be satisfied that the IRA had ended paramilitary activity and criminality. "We will take as long as necessary, and no longer, to be sure that the republican campaign is over," he said.
Gerry Adams said a fortnight ago that Sinn Féin members would be present when the Stormont Assembly reconvened later this month to ensure "the election of a government in line with the Good Friday agreement".
Mr Ahern said the scene was now set for the resumption of the Assembly and for efforts to reach agreement to re-establish the power-sharing Executive within six months.
"I would like to see the DUP and Sinn Féin as early as possible engaging with each other. That's important, collectively together. The agenda they have to deal with is about getting ready for government. The business will be to elect an Executive," he said.
"We all know that might take some time but I do hope that they proactively work together to try to get a good spirit into the Assembly," the Taoiseach said.
The Assembly is due to return to Stormont on Monday week with all sides - despite some public statements to the contrary - conceding there is no chance of a fully functioning Executive being formed within the initial deadline of six weeks.
At the weekend the former Ulster Unionist Party leader David Trimble, now appointed to the House of Lords, told the BBC he did not believe republicans had done enough to convince them to enter into a fully operating Stormont administration with Sinn Féin.
However, Mr Ahern and British prime minister Tony Blair hope that by the final deadline of November 24th enough common ground will have been established between the DUP and Sinn Féin to allow agreement on an Executive led by Ian Paisley as first minister and Martin McGuinness as deputy first minister.
They believe that if last week's positive Independent Monitoring Commission's report on IRA activity can be improved upon in the next report in October it will be difficult for Dr Paisley to find reasonable arguments for refusing to share power with Sinn Féin.
As Mr Ahern acknowledged yesterday the tensions and potential for violence that the annual marching season generates could jeopardise the prospects of a political accommodation.
The main flashpoint parades are at Whiterock in west Belfast, Ardoyne in north Belfast on July 12th and Drumcree at Portadown earlier in July. The Orange Order leadership has refused to speak to nationalist resident groups but there has been some tentative talk of contact at local level recently.