The terrorist attacks on the US could impact on the decommissioning issue in the North and force a move by the IRA, according to Mr Seamus Mallon.
The North's Deputy First Minister said he still hoped a start to IRA decommissioning would happen and avert another crisis in the political institutions.
"Time is short, the issues are clear, there is no doubt about what has to happen and I still happen to believe we must have hope that that will happen," he said. "Now, if we are going to go by the past, then there isn't much basis for that hope. But maybe things have changed in terms of attitudes." Speaking on the BBC's Inside Politics programme on Saturday, Mr Mallon suggested world opinion against all acts of terrorism could force a move by the IRA.
"Maybe people throughout the world might be asking themselves in relation to the problems here, why it is necessary to hold on to the weapons of terrorism when in effect there is no longer going to be that type of violence and that type of terrorism."
Speaking on Saturday, the Sinn FΘin president, Mr Gerry Adams, said the "most fitting tribute" to victims of the attacks was to make the peace process work.
Services of remembrance were held across the North at the weekend. The Northern Secretary, Dr Reid, attended a special service in St Anne's Cathedral in Belfast.
The Bishop of Down and Connor, Dr Patrick Walsh, celebrated a special Mass at St Peter's Church in west Belfast for victims of the attacks. "So many of you have known bitter anguish over the turbulent years of the history of this parish. You, more than most, know how to feel for those families," he said.
Meanwhile, bricks have been thrown at a mosque in south Belfast. Muslims arriving for Friday prayer at the building on Wellington Park discovered damage to a number of windows.