The Labour leader, Mr Ruairi Quinn, has called on the Government to say that the amendments to Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution will stand even if the Northern executive is suspended.
Mr Quinn said such a declaration would be "helpful" even though it was his understanding that the original wording of the Articles could be restored only by another referendum. "It is inconceivable that any government would seek to do this, and I believe that even if they did, the people would not approve a proposal to turn the clock back in this," he said.
Mr Quinn urged unionists to focus on the benefits that would flow from the establishment of an executive next week. However, he also said that what was needed now was an acknowledgement from the republican movement that decommissioning was not just an aspiration "but an obligation that will be honoured within the timeframe of the Good Friday agreement".