The North's First Minister, Mr David Trimble, has expressed the belief that there is no imminent danger of the IRA returning to violence, and neither did he believe that that the Belfast Agreement was in danger of collapsing in the short term.
As the Ulster Unionist Party and Sinn Fein remain deadlocked over forming an executive and paramilitary disarming, Sinn Fein again warned that any handing over of arms could split the republican movement.
While some in the UUP have reservations about the Hillsborough Declaration, which urges the IRA and loyalist paramilitaries to put some weapons "beyond use", Mr Trimble said yesterday it was the way forward.
He also believed the political process was still viable and could overcome the difficulties. "The process is a darn sight more robust than that. It is much more robust. It should not be underestimated," added Mr Trimble.
He was confident that the IRA ceasefire was holding. He believed republicans viewed politics and the agreement as the way to make progress. "There is no serious prospect of a return to violence on an extended scale. They may do something stupid. Indeed politically, they are doing stupid things," he said.
Mr Trimble said the refusal of the IRA and loyalist paramilitaries to begin disarming was blocking the agreement's implementation. He challenged Sinn Fein and the Progressive Unionist Party to define their opposition to the declaration's proposals.
Mr Trimble said the problem came from Sinn Fein's rejection of the Hillsborough Declaration. "The question now for Sinn Fein is, is it prepared to implement all of the [Belfast] agreement, or is it moving to a position of repudiating the agreement?" he asked.
Sinn Fein, which will join the UUP and the SDLP in talks in London on Monday chaired by the Taoiseach and the British Prime Minister, repeated its call "for the full implementation" of the agreement.
Party chairman Mr Mitchel McLaughlin, speaking after an ardchomhairle meeting in Dublin, blamed the UUP for the impasse, and said it was "unionist intransigence and their use of the unionist veto which has prevented movement so far".
He said Sinn Fein was engaging in good faith with the international decommissioning body. He added: "It is quite obvious to us as we travel about the country that this (decommissioning issue) would be deeply divisive within the republican movement and we are not going to split the republican movement.
"A split republican movement is of no benefit to anybody, and is of no benefit to the peace process." Mr McLaughlin said Sinn Fein's approach to the talks would be to engage positively and to urge the two governments "to adhere to the letter and the spirit of the agreement".
The DUP leader, the Rev Ian Paisley, has signalled a wish to meet Mr Blair, but not in the company of Sinn Fein. He said the pro-agreement parties were now in complete disarray and the London talks would be "an illusion".
The Presbyterian Church, meanwhile, has expressed "deep concern" at the political impasse. It said the British and Irish governments, the political parties and the paramilitary groups must value what had been achieved so far by the Belfast Agreement and work to resolve the logjam.
The executive of the UUP yesterday re-elected three pro-agreement members to its officer board: Mr Dennis Rogan as chairman, Mr James Cooper as vice-chairman, and Ms May Steele as assistant treasurer.
According to a UUP spokesman no reference was made to the controversy over a reported, previous extra-marital affair by the party MEP, Mr Jim Nicholson. The spokesman said this means that Mr Nicholson is likely to be the sole UUP candidate in June's European Parliament election.
