The Irish and British governments will over the next three weeks attempt to end the stalemate which has existed in the peace process since the suspension of the Northern Executive and Assembly last month.
Two senior White House officials will travel to Belfast next week to consult British and Irish government representatives and the political parties on how to get the Belfast Agreement back on track.
They are Mr Jim Steinberg, deputy national security adviser to President Clinton, and Mr Dick Norland, who is also an adviser on Northern Ireland matters. He recently served in the US embassy in Dublin.
The Government's strategy will begin over the next few days when the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, and the Northern Secretary, Mr Peter Mandelson, consult the parties supporting the Belfast Agreement with a view to holding a series of meetings, probably in Belfast next week.
While the format of the meetings has yet to be determined, a Government spokesman said last night, Mr Cowen and Mr Mandelson would be aiming to "reestablish momentum" in the process.
Ahead of those meetings, the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, is expected to meet the Sinn Fein president, Mr Gerry Adams, in Government Buildings today.
The series of meetings in Belfast will be followed by the St Patrick's Day celebrations in Washington at which most of the Northern party leaders will attend along with the Taoiseach and Mr Cowen. President Clinton is expected to use the occasion to encourage the parties to resolve their difficulties over decommissioning and the re-establishment of the institutions.
An administration official said US officials had "no secret plan" to solve the impasse. "There is no masking that this is a difficult moment, but there is no magic formula," he said. President Clinton was "keeping a close eye on the situation" but "this is not a presidential mission to achieve peace in our time".
The Taoiseach and the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, will review the situation when they meet at the EU summit in Lisbon on March 20th. The two men had a brief telephone conversation yesterday.
Meanwhile, Governor George Bush, who is seeking the Republican Party presidential nomination, has said that if elected president "if necessary I will name a special peace envoy to continue the good work of former Senator George Mitchell and move the Irish peace process forward". In an election advertisement, Mr Bush said: "The spirit and letter of the Good Friday agreement should be restored".