As politics in Northern Ireland remain deadlocked over paramilitary disarmament, Mr David Trimble and Mr Seamus Mallon have attempted to dampen concern that the Belfast Agreement is unravelling.
The North's First Minister and Deputy First Minister, as well as other party leaders, held a series of meetings with the Northern Secretary, Dr Mo Mowlam, yesterday to try to find a way out of the impasse.
Mr Trimble and Mr Mallon will tomorrow make further efforts to inject a new dynamic into the political process when they meet party leaders at Stormont.
Top of the agenda for these encounters will be how to resolve the question of paramilitary disarmament and the formation of an executive.
The Sinn Fein president, Mr Gerry Adams, after his meeting with Dr Mowlam, warned that ordinary republicans and nationalists were questioning whether unionists were truly committed to making political progress. He accused Mr Trimble of breaking his pledge of office by failing to establish an executive.
People had voted for the agreement and it should be implemented. It was not just Sinn Fein that was questioning Mr Trimble's commitment to implementing the Belfast Agreement, but grassroots nationalists and republicans, he added.
After his meeting with Dr Mowlam, Mr David Ervine, chief spokesman for the Progressive Unionist Party, said if movement did not happen quickly the Belfast Agreement would be in some difficulty. "I don't want to be too despondent, but I would flag up that potentially we are facing a crisis and even collapse," he said.
But Mr Trimble and Mr Mallon, after meeting Dr Mowlam, denied the agreement was under threat. "No, it is not a crisis," said Mr Trimble. "There are only crises when people make them crises," agreed Mr Mallon.
Mr Mallon said people should be assured there would be movement in the process notwithstanding the deadlock over IRA decommissioning and the formation of an executive involving Sinn Fein.
Mr Mallon said he and Mr Trimble would have a clearer understanding after tomorrow's meeting with party leaders at Stormont on how to drive the situation forward.
"You can be assured that we will be taking things forward, and that the work is being done, and will continue to be done," he added.
Asked about Mr Adams's comments that nationalists in general were beginning to lose confidence in the process, Mr Mallon replied: "I am a nationalist of a very deep green shade, and I can tell you that we are working as hard as people could possibly be working within the office of First and Deputy First Minister to get the matters resolved. We will continue to work in that way.
"While there is frustration, and I feel that frustration myself, what we are doing is channelling that frustration into our efforts to ensure that we do resolve this matter, and that we get on with the business of fulfilling and implementing the obligations that we have, under this entire agreement."
Mr Trimble said Mr Adams, by his position on disarmament, was the cause of most of the frustration. "We would wish he would remove the frustration by acting," he added.
After his meeting, the Alliance leader, Mr Sean Neeson, conceded it was unlikely the Assembly executive could be formed by the October 31st deadline - this Saturday. "However, I firmly believe that important progress can be made on the restructuring of the Northern Ireland government departments, as well as the setting up of the North-South implementation bodies," he said.
"I firmly believe that progress can be made if all the parties work constructively this week in the meetings with David Trimble and Seamus Mallon," Mr Neeson added.
