New Northern Ireland Secretary Mr Paul Murphy will be in Dublin today for his first meeting with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, in a bid to get the peace process back on track.
Meanwhile, Sinn Fein president Mr Gerry Adams will today meet US president Mr George Bush's special advisor on Northern Ireland, Ambassador Richard Haass.
The Northern Ireland Secretary has been engaged in a round of discussions with the Northern parties since taking over from Dr John Reid.
Last month Dr Reid was forced to suspend devolution after Mr David Trimble's Ulster Unionists insisted they could no longer remain in the power-sharing government with Sinn Fein.
The move resulted in the IRA last week withdrawing its contact with the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning.
In a speech yesterday to the Institute of Irish Studies at Liverpool University, Mr Trimble warned republicans that devolution would remain in "cold storage" until they addressed the issue of paramilitary activity.
"I think many republicans understand that the continued existence of the IRA as a standing so-called army is the most significant barrier to political progress," he observed.
"As the [British] Prime Minister said at the Harbour Commissioners in Belfast last month, the contradictions in the 'armalite and ballot box' strategy are apparent to all.
"Having been in and out of office three times, I am frankly not prepared to be party to another fudge. We must cut to the heart of the matter."
Mr Trimble's former deputy, SDLP leader Mr Mark Durkan, in an address yesterday to sixth formers in a Belfast grammar school, called on republicans to join with his party in reassuring unionists the Belfast Agreement would not disappear in the event of a united Ireland.
The Foyle MLA told students at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution: "Deciding on constitutional preferences should not involve calling into question any other part of the Agreement."
PA