The SDLP deputy leader, Ms Bríd Rodgers, has criticised the British and Irish governments for their handling of the peace process.
Speaking at a conference in Barcelona yesterday, she said: "The SDLP has been clear there can be no side deals, no unilateral action and no private lines to private armies.
"This exclusive approach adopted by the British and Irish governments in attempting to deal with breakdowns has to date served only to undermine confidence in the process."
Last week, the UVF and its political wing, the Progressive Unionist Party, also complained of a lack of inclusiveness in the process and the loyalist paramilitary group ended its contact with the international decommissioning body in protest.
However, Ms Rodgers said loyalist paramilitaries should instead be ending their murder campaign against Catholics: "Any difficulties loyalists have with the direction of the political process can only be addressed across the table and not down the barrel of a gun."
She said republicans must play by the same rules as their political rivals. "We often hear from republicans about the legitimacy of their electoral mandate and this is something I fully respect.
"But that mandate only entitles Sinn Féin to get on the pitch. Once they are on the pitch, they have to play by the same rules as the rest of us. The clear will of the people of Ireland, nationalists and unionists, overwhelmingly expressed in the referendum of 1998, is that all paramilitary organisations - republicans and loyalist - should disappear for good.
"This includes the IRA, which should disappear, not in response to the negative demands of unionism or the British government, but in response to the clarion call of the people of Ireland."
Ms Rodgers challenged recent claims by the DUP that they could renegotiate the Good Friday agreement.
The Belfast Agreement was "not up for sale", nor were its principles and values up for negotiation, she added.