The former environment minister for Northern Ireland, Mr Dermot Nesbitt, has labelled the reconvened Forum for Peace and Reconciliation a "waste of time".
Mr Nesbitt, a member of the Ulster Unionist Party, said the forum, which meets in Dublin today for the first time in five years, would produce nothing, and that it would amount to little more than a "publicity stunt".
"The Irish Government, Sinn Fein and the SDLP will likely rake over the same old ground," Mr Nesbitt said.
"They will not focus on the central issue that nowhere else in the democratic world, except in Northern Ireland, would anyone be expected to have a government comprising those linked with paramilitarism."
He added that both the SDLP and the Irish Government were, by reconvening the forum throwing Republicans a "lifeline" following the recent suspension of the Northern Ireland Executive.
However, Senator Maurice Hayes, chairman of the Forum has called on unionists to join the talks.
" . . .my sense is that the parties, particularly in the south, believe this forum will be helpful in clarifying and examining aspects of the Good Friday Agreement.
"It may well be that unionists will not take up direct representation in the forum but I would hope that the unionist point of view will be represented even if that has to be done through surrogates."
Unionists did not take up its seats when it originally met between 1994 and 1996 because of the Republic's constitutional claim over Northern Ireland.
Mr Hayes is the second Forum member to urge unionists to play a part in its work. SDLP negotiator Mr Sean Farren this week claimed their contribution would be "welcome".
The Forum for Peace and Reconciliation was formed in 1994 by former taoiseach Mr Albert Reynolds following the first IRA ceasefire in an attempt to help foster relationships and encourage dialogue in the early stages of the peace process.
Unionists did not take up its seats when it originally met between 1994 and 1996 because of the Republic's constitutional claim over Northern Ireland.
Following a referendum in 1998, the Republic's claim to the North was dropped from the Constitution and replaced with an aspiration.
Additional reporting PA