US President George W. Bush's surprise intervention in the peace process has raised hopes of a breakthrough at talks next week.
The North will be the third item on the agenda, after Iraq and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, when Bush and the British Prime Minister Tony Blair hold a summit at Hillsborough Castle, south of Belfast, on Monday and Tuesday.
But Dublin and London hope the high-profile involvement of the US leader - who thus far has not appeared to share his predecessor Bill Clinton's interest in Northern Irish affairs - will help push the North's politicians towards a final deal.
Most politicians have welcomed the news Bush would be taking a personal interest in efforts to revive the Belfast Agreement, but anti-war activists have threatened to stage protests against the visit.
"He's coming for three reasons really, first of all he's had a summit with Blair every 10 days or so during the Iraq crisis, the Azores, Camp David, and it's time for another one," a British official in Belfast told Reuters.
"Secondly it's a pretty important week in the peace process here. And then running through all that is the Middle East - Blair has always seen what's happened in Northern Ireland as a possible model for peace processes elsewhere."
David Trimble and Gerry Adams have both welcomed Bush's intervention.
"President Clinton had a sentimental attachment to Irish nationalism, but that doesn't mean he was in any way weak on the principles of democracy," Trimble told BBC radio.
"And George Bush is certainly not weak on the question of democracy, and on the questions of terrorism, so I think one would expect the president would come with a very clear view to the situation."
Adams said in a statement the visit sent a "strong signal of support" for the Good Friday Agreement, but went on to point out his party's opposition to the war in Iraq.
The SDLP leader Mark Durkan was less enthusiastic about the visit, saying he was "perturbed" Northern Ireland was being used as a venue for a war summit.
"I cannot disguise my personal unhappiness at this, given my own opposition to this war and my concern for the integrity of our own peace process," he said.
Bush will arrive in the North tomorrow evening and will meet the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern and the leaders of the pro-agreement parties on Tuesday.
Two days later, on the fifth calendar anniversary of the Belfast Agreement, Ahern and Blair will return to Hillsborough to publish their blueprint for reviving the Assembly.