NEWLY-ELECTED First Minister Peter Robinson and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness will meet Gordon Brown in Downing Street today to tackle the contentious issues that threaten the current Assembly.
Their talks follow the compromise hammered out late on Wednesday between the DUP and Sinn Féin over a list of unresolved issues that divide them.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin is due to represent the Government at the talks. The parties are due to reconvene at further talks on Friday of next week at which the Government will also be represented, probably by Taoiseach Brian Cowen.
Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness were appointed First Minister and Deputy First Minister at a special sitting of the Assembly yesterday following the Rev Ian Paisley's resignation from the Executive. The former DUP leader left Stormont Castle as First Minister for the last time yesterday, blowing the building a kiss.
Addressing the Assembly for the last time as joint leader of the Executive he said: "This is not a day for words. It is a day for the emotions of the heart, the emotions of the mind and the emotions of the soul."
On affirming the oath of office, the new First Minister said no man had laboured more faithfully than Ian Paisley, claiming he had laid the foundations on which the new political institutions stood.
Defending his predecessor, he said there was a time when No and Never were the right things to say and that Enoch Powell was wrong when he said that all political careers end in failure.
Looking ahead, he said: "The settling-in period is now over - there is much important work to be done." It was time for the "last vestiges" of paramilitary organisations to be removed and he looked to a smooth transfer towards "democratic normality" in the years ahead.
The outstanding issues to be addressed at the Downing Street talks include continuing unionist concern over paramilitaries, parades, education, the future of British military bases in the North, investment, the economy and the devolution of policing and justice powers.
"Politics is not about who fills an office - it is about what is done while in office." Mr Robinson said no one knew better than the DUP that the staircase towards a better future had to be taken step by step by step. He called on all parties to the Executive to combine their efforts to deliver on the programme for government, adding that his was a call not just to the largest two parties.
Referring to opposition to the DUP outside the Assembly he said he believed the decision to enter government with Sinn Féin was the correct one.
Without mentioning critics of the DUP by name he said he would not be deflected by those "jarring voices" bent on creating fear.
Recalling advice given to him by Dr Paisley, Mr Robinson said he was told: "Do what is right though the stars fall." When you do what is right, the people follow, he added.
There was no part of Peter Robinson who wished to be on sidelines while others took decisions on behalf of local people, he added.
Northern Ireland had the benefits, he said, of being an integral part of the United Kingdom while enjoying good relations with the Republic.
Applying a veto is not a mark of success - it merely indicated a failure to agree, he said. "I pledge to work unstintingly to work towards a better and finer day."
Mr McGuinness told Assembly members the "honeymoon" enjoyed by himself and former first minister Ian Paisley was now over.
"Our people want a future," he said, and the economy had to be grown to deliver prosperity and the services people sought.
"Our people want an end to division and our people want to be valued equally.
"The war is over," he said, and "the scourge of sectarianism" had to be confronted.
New ministerial appointments due to be announced following the move by Mr Robinson from the finance department to the First Minister's office were expected to be made today.
However, these are now likely to be announced on Monday due the death of the father of Industry Minister Nigel Dodds.