Northern Ireland has become dangerously complacent, the Deputy First Minister, Mr Seamus Mallon, warned yesterday.
Speaking in Newry at the annual general meeting of the Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action, Mr Mallon told delegates that the North may stretch the patience of its friends too far.
"Some day we may just fall and fall into that abyss and nobody may see the point in trying to catch us. There has been delay and prevarication for a year. "As the deadline approaches, I hope that all parties realise just what is at stake and pull back from the abyss."
South African sociologist Ms Monique Marks, from the University of Natal, suggested to the meeting that each side needed to accept the other's sincerity. She claimed there appeared to be a lack of clear vision here as to where the current process was ultimately moving.