Sinn Fein has said it has been reassured by the Government that the Taoiseach remains committed to the Patten report on policing, following Mr Ahern's indication that he was prepared to compromise in order to help Mr David Trimble.
Mr Gerry Adams said he had spoken yesterday with Government representatives after media reports of the Taoiseach's remarks. He had been assured Mr Ahern remained committed to the "full and faithful" implementation of the Patten report.
"One thing which must be made clear is that for nationalists Patten was the compromise. There can be no renegotiation of the agreement," the Sinn Fein president said.
SDLP Deputy First Minister Mr Seamus Mallon insisted policing was "a hugely essential part" of the Belfast Agreement and, in many ways, more important than decommissioning.
"Policing isn't a peripheral issue. Decommissioning, by definition, is almost going to be incremental, policing is not.
"It is not just a matter of point-scoring. It is doing something which has never happened in the history of Northern Ireland, ensuring nationalism and republicanism is part of policing."
Mr Mallon said he had been trying to help Mr Trimble for the past three years. "I want to do it again but I want to do it on the basis of political parties finding a way forward together, rather than one party trying to copper-fasten their position in party political terms."
Mr Trimble welcomed the Taoiseach's comments on working for decommissioning and taking action against republican dissidents.
But he said policing was a matter for London, not Dublin.
The First Minister said there had been an alarming growth in dissident activity in recent months. "There is a very clear obligation on the Irish Government to deal with that situation," he added.
However, policing would be dealt with in the British Parliament. Unionists had already secured some changes to the Policing Bill and he expected more when it went to the House of Lords.
"Some nationalists seem to think the sole purpose of Patten was to produce a report that nationalists wanted. The need for compromise is there and nationalists have to accept that," he said.
Nationalists would be throwing away the Belfast Agreement if they insisted on the full implementation of Patten, Mr Trimble added.
"The main reason why a majority - albeit a narrow majority - of unionists endorsed the agreement was because the agreement clearly recognised British sovereignty in Northern Ireland.
"If there is not that recognition in practice, then people are throwing away the agreement. It is as stark as that."
An anti-agreement UUP MP, Mr Willie Ross, dismissed the Taoiseach's remarks on policing. He warned against "sordid trade-offs" on the issue which he said was not about saving Mr Trimble.
"It is to ensure that Northern Ireland ends up with a police force which is able to deal effectively with every type of criminal activity. That goes far beyond the name and symbols of the policing organisation.
"If Mr Ahern's interference is designed to avoid the real change needed - and it appears to be so - then his new initiatives will do more harm than good for he must inevitably also ask for counterbalancing concessions for the Sinn Fein/IRA and the SDLP.
"Given the views they have been expressing and the words of Mr Ahern, I surmise that he will propose something on the badge, little or nothing on the name, and a lot of extra power to the district policing boards. This would be quite disastrous."