The North's political parties must return to the 1998 Belfast Agreement in any deal to restore devolution, nationalist SDLP leader Mark Durkan claimed in Washington last night.
SDLP leader Mark Durkan
After meeting Nancy Pelosi, the leader of the House of Representatives' Democrats, the Foyle MP claimed the comprehensive agreement thrashed out in December 2004 by Sinn Féin and the Democratic Unionists amounted to a significant rewriting of sections of the Agreement.
"Parts of the deal that were being worked out in December 2004 have been overtaken by events and parts of that deal were not cracked up to what they were meant to be," he told said.
"If you take an issue like policing, it appears that all they did was kick the issue into touch and create more stand-offs."
Mr Durkan also met George Bush's special envoy to Northern Ireland, Ambassador Mitchell Reiss.
The SDLP leader said it was clear from his discussions today that Irish Americans and US politicians were keen to see political progress in Northern Ireland.
Mark Durkan, SDLP
The SDLP delegation had been questioned about the shifting of positions by Sinn Féin and the British government on the controversial Northern Ireland Offensive Bill which was withdrawn by the Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain in the House of Commons after fierce opposition from other parties and criticism by victims groups.
The SDLP leader said Americans were also eager to see political progress on policing, with Sinn Fein finally signing up to the accountability structures in Northern Ireland.
"People do not want parties holding back on policing or on the restoration of the institutions," he said. "There is a feeling that if people hold back on one issue like policing they should be signing up to, it gives other people excuses to hold back on another aspect of the agreement.
"There is an attitude here that people understand in the US that the issues around IRA activity and with respect to decommissioning created suspension of devolution.
"The people are looking positively and are saying that if these issues have been removed, then there should be progress towards re-establishing the political institutions and keeping them nailed down."