MR GERRY ADAMS said on a visit to the United States last night that he wanted to revive the peace process and called for calm following a new warning by loyalist paramilitaries.
The Sinn Fein leader told a news conference that during his six day visit he would meet Irish American groups in New York, Pennsylvania and Washington and people working to bring peace to Northern Ireland.
He arrived in New York within hours of a loyalist warning that they were ready to retaliate if the IRA continued its violent campaign.
"I think that everyone in Ireland should remain calm," Mr Adams said at New York's Kennedy international airport. "The loyalists have their own very negative agenda and sometimes they have been used by the British government.
The Combined Loyalist Military Command, who have operated a truce since October 1994, said in a statement to the BBC in Belfast that they were prepared to match the IRA "blow for blow." But there was no explicit threat to end their ceasefire.
Mr Adams said that he wanted to take part in the "necessary dangerous work of making peace" and everyone involved had to take risks to try to end the 25 year long conflict.