Mr David Trimble appears agreed with Dublin and London that talk of "disbandment" is unhelpful to negotiations about IRA "acts of completion" to end the political crisis in Northern Ireland.
In private briefings in London on Friday the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, sought to persuade influential British journalists not to become fixated with the "D-word" in their assessment of behind-the-scenes efforts to pave the way for the restoration of the Assembly.
Stressing his personal belief in the bona-fides and good intent of the Sinn Féin leadership in seeking a completion of the IRA's transition to democracy, Mr Ahern expressed confidence that the republican leadership is preparing to deliver a real, total and permanent renunciation of all forms of violence.
At the same time, Saturday's British newspaper accounts of the Taoiseach's analysis of the current state of play - which Sinn Féin mistakenly assumed to result from Downing Street or British intelligence briefings - made clear that the Irish Government does not believe the IRA will formally disband.
Mr Trimble appeared sanguine on this point yesterday, as he expressed the "hope that the stories planted in press were true". While insisting there was "a long way to go" in the current negotiation, and that it must necessarily result in an end to private armies, the Ulster Unionist leader said he "would be delighted" if the Taoiseach proved correct in forecasting the restoration of the devolved institutions by February, if not before. And Mr Trimble conspicuously emulated Mr Ahern, and the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, in declining repeated invitations to define IRA "disbandment" as the precise unionist requirement for a return to power-sharing with Sinn Féin.
Appearing on the BBC's On The Record programme, Mr Trimble was asked whether weapons decommissioning and the cessation of various forms of paramilitary activity would be enough, or if he would still require an IRA statement confirming that it was ceasing to exist.
Mr Trimble replied that the distinction between the actions the IRA was reported ready to take and disbandment appeared to him "a play on words".
Pressed on the need for an actual statement announcing IRA disbandment, the UUP leader told interviewer John Humphrys: "Let's look at that the other way. If there was just such a statement, would people believe it? That's the problem . . . the secret army could say all sorts of things. But how would you know it's true. That's why there has to be, in the first instance at least, a focus on the things that can be seen, the activities, dealing with the weapons and so on."
During two hours of talks with Mr Blair at Chequers on Saturday, which also concentrated on common concerns about the Convention on the Future of Europe, Mr Ahern repeated his view that the May Assembly elections must proceed in any event. However Mr Trimble yesterday confirmed his belief that the basis for restoring the Executive must be found first, asserting there would be "a total lack of credibility" in elections to a still-suspended Assembly.