The chairman of the International Decommissioning Body, Gen John de Chastelain, will make a progress report on his contacts with republican and loyalist paramilitaries in Dublin today, writes Denis Coghlan, Chief Political Correspondent.
Reliable sources thought it unlikely the general would be in a position to report a second decommissioning act by the IRA, following that organisation's ground-breaking initiative last October.
Gen de Chastelain will contact the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, and the Northern Secretary of State, Mr John Reid, at Iveagh House. The meeting was arranged at short notice, following Friday's meeting at Dublin Castle. Last month Gen de Chastelain told the unionist parties in Northern Ireland that he was attempting to arrange further meetings with representatives of the IRA and of loyalist paramilitaries to put more arms beyond use.
Later today the president of Sinn FΘin, Mr Gerry Adams, will meet the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, at Government Buildings.