The Sinn Féin president, Mr Gerry Adams, has supported a claim by a visiting US Congressman that deadlock in the peace process can be broken.
Congressman Jim Walsh said yesterday he detected a willingness on the part of Northern politicians to restore devolution.
Speaking after a meeting between a US delegation and Sinn Féin at the party's Falls Road headquarters in Belfast, Mr Walsh said he detected movement since the last visit to Belfast by Mr Richard Haass, President Bush's adviser on Ireland.
Mr Adams said: "The movement, if it can be described as that, is that the discussions have now moved into a higher gear."
