DUBLIN - Sinn Fein party leader Gerry Adams, who has been shunned by US political leaders, held talks in Washington with Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern about the troubled Northern Ireland peace process, a party statement said Thursday.
Wednesday's meeting apparently led to the first formal talks between the Irish government and the Catholic Sinn Fein, the political wing of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), for almost two months.
"It was a useful meeting and an opportunity to focus on how we can collectively resolve the outstanding issues," Adams said, according to the statement from his party.
"The peace process is the most important issue facing the people of Ireland. It is in serious difficulties at this time following the failure of the December efforts to achieve a comprehensive agreement and subsequent events."
Adams said he and Ahern planned to meet again on their return to Ireland.
The last time the two sides held talks was on January 25 in Dublin, which was the first meeting since the IRA was blamed for a December 20 Belfast bank raid which netted 26.5 million pounds (38 million euros, 50 million dollars).
The IRA has denied involvement in the raid and Sinn Fein has denied an accusation by Ahern that they had prior knowledge of it.
Then, Ahern urged Sinn Fein to go away and consider unresolved issues in the peace process such as the decommissioning of IRA arms and an end to IRA criminality and paramilitarism.
The Washington meeting comes as US President George W. Bush and other politicians shun Adams but were to meet the five sisters and girlfriend of Robert McCartney, who was murdered by IRA and other thugs in Belfast on January 30.
They have brought their campaign for justice to the United States for the St Patrick's Day celebrations.
A father of two, McCartney was beaten and stabbed after a bar room brawl.
His family claim members of the IRA were responsible and that they then destroyed evidence and intimidated witnesses.
Adams said the Sinn Fein representative in the United States, Rita O'Hare, also attended the meeting and Ahern was accompanied by his Foreign Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern.
03/17/2005 16:59 GMT