Republicans and unionists who have plunged Northern Ireland's political institutions into a "mess" were tonight challenged to rescue the peace process.
With less than three weeks until the Taoiseach Mr Ahern and British prime minister Mr Blair return to Belfast with a plan for restoring devolution, SDLP leader Mr Mark Durkan urged all sides to rescue the Belfast Agreement.
He targeted Mr David Trimble's Ulster Unionists and Sinn Féin, claiming they had failed to deliver their sides of the bargain.
Mr Durkan said: "The challenge now is to find the commitment and the courage to deliver the clear will of the people of Ireland.
"I am particularly challenging the Ulster Unionists and the Republican movement, between them whose stances and actions have got us all into this mess and who have still to show us what they are prepared to do to bring us out of it."
Following talks with the pro-Agreement parties at Hillsborough, Co Down on Wednesday, Mr Blair and Mr Ahern now plan to put a package together by March 3th in a bid to restore the power-sharing Assembly at Stormont.