The Northern Ireland Secretary Dr John Reid today said it would be deeply disappointing if the IRA walked away from its initiative to put its weapons beyond use.
Mr Reid was speaking on the BBC's Breakfast with Frostprogramme this morning following the restoration of the Northern Ireland Assembly on the stroke of midnight.
"Over the next six weeks I fully intend to address the questions which some people have said are stumbling blocks... We should use that time productively," he added.
Dr Reid insisted the one-day suspension was the best option available to him.
"The alternatives were either a prolonged suspension of any discussions because of the polarisation and paralysis that results from an impending election, or a prolonged suspension by the British government which would have had very damaging consequences.
"Or choosing to suspend for one Saturday in August during the holiday season when the Assembly wasn't sitting. I think the vast majority of people would have thought it was common sense to do the latter," he added.
"The vast majority of people ... will recognise that I took the option that gives us more time to talk and to reach conclusions and decisions and to move the peace process forward," Dr Reid said.
Dr Reid said later that it would be deeply disappointing if the IRA walked away from its initiative to put its weapons beyond use.
He said: "Not least because I don't think it would be understood. I certainly hope that no-one walks away because it has bought time for movement."
He added that his decision to suspend the institutions for one day had saved the peace process and was hardly an excuse to abandon the progress that had been made.
"I believe we are tantalisingly close. This peace process, in its final implementation, is within our grasp," he said.
But his optimism was not shared by Sinn Féin, which last night accused him of undermining the faith of nationalists and republicans in the political process.
Ms Bairbre de Brun, who was today resuming her post as Stormont health minister, accused the Secretary of State of showing "an alarming state of complacency" in the face of damage to the credibility of the institutions.
She said: "I think the British government and the Ulster Unionist Party need to understand that nationalists and republicans also have rights.
"We have entitlements and those rights and entitlements can not be drip-fed or withheld either by Tony Blair or David Trimble."
The Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Cowen said he hoped the anticipated publication of the policing implementation plan next week would act as an impetus to resolving the other unresolved issues.
In a reference to the possible IRA threat to break off links with General de Chastelain, Mr Cowen said that all progress made in the last few weeks must be maintained.
PA