The North's Deputy First Minister, Mr Seamus Mallon, has said it is vital that political leaders move towards devolution as there is too much to lose otherwise.
"We are ready to go. The vast majority of people in Northern Ireland just want us to assume our responsibilities and get on with it. Many analogies have been used to describe the state of the agreement - it's in `free fall', its `haemorrhaging', it's about to be `parked'.
"How ironic it is that we can be so creative in defining the negatives but far less imaginative in articulating how we progress."
Mr Mallon said he recognised the seriousness of the political situation but he was critical of the inertia it produced.
"We will find a way around this issue because we've simply got to. There is too much at stake, too much to lose. Too many regeneration schemes could be put at risk. Too many opportunities to tackle the deep-rooted social and economic disadvantage in those parts of the North that have been at the epicentre of the conflict that might go unaddressed.
"We owe it to the people to sort the matter out now. We owe it to ourselves to press on and do the job we were tasked to do."
The Northern Secretary, Dr Mo Mowlam, also spoke of the urgent need to break the deadlock. "This is hard; no one is denying it's difficult but I don't think it's impossible. This can be overcome."
Meanwhile, the Sinn Fein president, Mr Gerry Adams, urged the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, to "assert the primacy of politics" by triggering the formation of the power-sharing executive immediately.
He welcomed the Government's rejection of the idea of a transitional executive, with full powers only being devolved in October if some progress is made on decommissioning.
"There is an obligation in the terms of the Good Friday agreement and that is what Sinn Fein is prepared to accept. We are not prepared to accept preconditions or the people we represent being denied entitlements."