The Northern Secretary, Dr John Reid, has warned loyalists and republicans that there can be no halfway house between violence and politics.
After the recent period of escalating sectarian violence, Dr Reid said the state of the IRA and loyalist ceasefires was kept constantly under review.
The Northern Secretary was visiting the loyalist Shankill yesterday morning. He said people must keep the current level of violence in perspective. "Let us not forget that we have moved a long way away from the terrible situation we had 10 years ago, but it isn't far enough," he said.
"We all have to be absolutely certain that we understand that we are on a journey away from violence towards exclusively democratic means."
Mr Mark Durkan, the SDLP Deputy First Minister, has meanwhile complained of unionist politicians, including the First Minister, Mr David Trimble, adopting a one-sided approach to the violence.
He said Mr Trimble had not helped the situation by referring to republican violence but failing to repudiate loyalist involvement in the disturbances. "Where we have hot heads on the streets, we need cool heads in the institutions," he said.
"There is no point in pretending that it is only coming from one set of paramilitaries or only see what one organisation is doing and fail to see what other organisations are doing," he added.
President George Bush's special envoy to Northern Ireland, Mr Richard Haass, will meet Northern politicians in Belfast today. He is expected to concentrate on the street violence and to urge Sinn Féin to join the Policing Board.
Mr Haass met the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, in Dublin yesterday. Discussions focused on the trouble at the flashpoint areas and, according to the Department, "the need for all parties to support the efforts of the Police Service of Northern Ireland to reduce community tensions".