A senior Ulster Unionist politican has warned that the Northern Ireland Assembly will not survive another year's suspension.
Mr Michael McGimpsey said if the deadlock over devolution was not broken within weeks, Stormont would close.
"Anybody who imagines that Stormont can go on to after the next general election is living in cloud-cuckoo-land," he said.
"It's unsustainable, the shambles that we have up there with all those MLAs floating about, drawing big salaries, not doing the jobs they are being paid to do. All the infrastructure, including that huge building, is just sitting there.
"We are now two years down the line from suspension - anybody who imagines we can run like this for a third year is frankly not living in the real world."
The Belfast South MLA also told BBC Radio Ulster he thought the British government's scepticism about IRA disbandment was tactical.
Efforts to restore power-sharing are continuing in the wake of last month's talks at Leeds Castle, Kent. A Sinn Fein delegation due to meet the Taoiseach and the Minister for Foreign Affairs on Monday.
The Rev Ian Paisley's landmark meeting with Mr Ahern in Dublin this week was hailed a success, with both sides describing the talks as useful.
But the bitter row between the DUP and the SDLP shows no signs of ending and nationalist SDLP negotiator Sean Farren has urged the Democratic Unionists to declare their full support for power sharing and cross-border co-operation.
PA