Work is still going on behind the scenes in an attempt to restore power sharing in Northern Ireland, it was claimed today.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Dermot Ahern and Northern Ireland Secretary Mr Paul Murphy said decommissioning, paramilitarism and policing were still being discussed by the parties and the British and
As the two men met in Dublin, Mr Ahern said: "There is a tremendous amount of work going on in the background. "There are a number of key issues and we will make more efforts over the coming days to pull those together.
"There is a window of opportunity. I think that's accepted by everybody. "In the meantime we have to put the shoulder to the wheel."
As momentum gathered towards a possible resolution, Mr Murphy reiterated his recent comments that he wants to see a resolution "in weeks rather than months".
He said: "It's in everybody's interests to keep on working on these issues and try to resolve them as quickly as we can."
Mr Ahern will hold more talks with members of the Ulster Unionist Party in Dublin tomorrow. Mr Murphy warned: "You can never put a complete deadline on these things. It is far better to deal with these issues now when we can."
He said there was "a mood of willingness and understanding" among the parties given that it was the second anniversary of the suspension of the institutions.
He added: "For two years direct rule has been operating in Northern Ireland. "But I want to shed that as soon as I can possibly can so that local politicians can take decisions locally." SDLP leader Mr Mark Durkan tonight called on the IRA to decommission and disband.
He said: "That would be a welcome step forward. They should have done so long ago for pro-Agreement Ireland - not just now for the anti-Agreement DUP."
Speaking at Dublin's Trinity College, Mr Durkan also called on the DUP to adopt the principles of the Good Friday Agreement and to embrace a new era of power sharing in Northern Ireland. The power-sharing institutions were suspended amid allegations of an IRA spy ring operating at Stormont in October 2002.