Northern Secretary Peter Hain today warned that deadlines for accepting the St Andrews Agreement would not slip as Sinn Féin and the DUP continued their consultation with members.
Sinn Féin is holding 60 internal meetings throughout Ireland at which the key issue of endorsing the Police Service of Northern Ireland will top the agenda.
Dublin MEP Mary Lou McDonald, Newry and Armagh MP Conor Murphy and Kerry North TD Martin Ferris are heading the exercise.
Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams outside Downing Street last night
Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams will meet the Taoiseach in Dublin today where he will reaffirm the party's commitment to nominating a first and deputy first minister by the November 24th deadline.
"In our view there is no reason why November 24th should also slip and I have told Peter Hain that. I've also told him he should convene the Assembly that day," Mr Adams said before heading for Dublin.
He criticised DUP leader Ian Paisley for failing to attend the Programme for Government Committee last month that was due to discuss issues arising from the St Andrew's Agreement.
He described Mr Paisley's refusal to engage with Sinn Féin in a row over the oath of office as a setback. He also criticised Mr Hain's cancellation the meeting, which was regarded as largely a confidence-building measure ahead of a November 10th deadline for the parties to accept the Agreement in principle.
The DUP has also been holding internal consultations, with meetings across Northern Ireland, and last week it published a four-page document in newspapers pointing out how the St Andrews Agreement had advanced the unionist cause.
But the party's MEP Jim Allister has expressed deep reservations, and MP Nigel Dodds has questioned the viability of the timetable.
The North Belfast MP said until Sinn Féin clearly states its support for policing in the North, the deadlines set out by Prime Minister Tony Blair and Mr Ahern were looking "increasingly unrealistic".
Mr Dodds said: "Remember we still have an IMC [Independent Monitoring Commission] report that has to deal with the whole issue of terrorist structures - the Army Council and all of that stuff.
"So what we will do is judge everything by the delivery and actions of the IRA and Sinn Féin - that will be the crucial issue, not dates set in a calendar by the Government."
But Mr Hain was insistent that the deadlines won't slip. "I need to know from the parties on Friday next week whether they are up for the St Andrews Agreement or not," he said.
"We have, of course, since the St Andrews talks, been clarifying points and negotiating with the parties. However the decision must be made next week. They need to tell us if they will remain on board the train, if they want to get off it or derail it."
He acknowledged that internal party discussions would encounter difficulties but said the target of devolution by March 26th next year and the nomination of first and deputy first ministers by November 24th was immutable.
The Irish and British governments say St Andrews is their last attempt to restore devolution for many years and that if the deadlines pass they will impose a "plan B".
Both governments have already proposed a multi-billion euro finance package for the North, which the Ulster Unionist Party has described a foretaste of what the "plan B" would entail.
Additional reporting PA