The leader of the SDLP has called on all politicians in Northern Ireland to redouble their efforts to restore devolution in 2003.
Mr Mark Durkan said all parties must work to bring political stability to the North in the wake of the suspension of the devolved institutions following allegations of an IRA spy ring at Stormont.
In a New Year message, the former Deputy First Minister said: "We have said consistently that there is a need for all parties to get around the table and deal with all of the issues.
"It does not help when parties refuse to sit down at the table and confront issues.
"Indeed progress is retarded when parties stage sensationalist walk-outs rather than sitting down and facing the difficult issues."
Mr Durkan said the implementation of the Belfast Agreement was the collective responsibility of all the parties, and not simply the responsibility of the British government.
"I hope that 2003 will see all parties in this process taking full responsibility for ensuring all of the agreement is implemented and getting the institutions of government here up and running," he said.
"A new year's resolution for all parties must be to redouble efforts to bring political stability to the people here."
Sinn Féin's chief negotiator Mr Martin McGuinness said a "window of opportunity" exists for the Northern Ireland peace process. All parties including his own must "face up" to their responsibilities, Mr McGuinness said.
He denied Sinn Féin was benefiting from the collapse of the Northern Ireland Executive after the Ulster Unionists walked out in protest at alleged IRA activities.
He said: "We absolutely believe there is a window of opportunity which is there over the course of the next five or six weeks (and) that we all have to work in a positive and constructive frame of mind.
"I am not saying, for example, that the Sinn Féin leadership does not have a responsibility to face up to the issue that some Unionists are putting forward.
"But they do have a responsibility to face up to our concerns about their failure to see the Good Friday Agreement (implemented).
"And also the British Government have a responsibility to face up to the agreements we are making and I hope the process can be constructive from next week."
A significant announcement by the IRA is seen by many as the only way forward for the process.
Mr McGuinness said: "I don't know what the IRA are prepared to do,
"The reality of the situation is that the IRA are committed to their cessation of military operations.
"They have been the most peaceful organisation and have made the most powerful contribution of all there has been over the course of the last 12 months."
Meanwhile, the leader of the Alliance Party, Mr David Ford, said political opportunities must not be squandered in the new year, as they had been in 2002.
"The last year has been one of disappointment," he said.
"It was supposed to herald a new era of stability, but instead the public got one crisis after another as politicians and paramilitaries failed to take the opportunities they had been given."
PA