Republicans and unionists should make space for each other in Northern politics, the Deputy First Minister, Mr Seamus Mallon, said last night.
He called on Sinn Fein to ad dress the issue of IRA decommissioning and urged the Ulster Unionist Party to recognise the legitimacy of Sinn Fein's political position.
Addressing Sinn Fein, Mr Mallon said: "Could I suggest to them that maybe they look into their own hearts and recognise that one of the greatest protections of the peace process would be the removal of all implements of war?"
Sinn Fein should look carefully at that.
"I suggest they also recognise that within the community at large in the North of Ireland right across the board, there is no rationale, no justification, no set of circumstances that could ever justify the holding of weapons of war, nor, in the wake of the Omagh experience, can there be any rational argument put forward to do so."
Sinn Fein "through its utterances and decisions should make space for the unionist community, space they need".
He said unionists should "actually recognise that there is a very total legitimacy to the Sinn Fein position, not just in terms of their mandate but in terms of the agreement that the unionist parties have signed".
Each of them had to make space for the other so that the greater community could start to work the Belfast Agreement in its entirety. "There are challenges there for both Sinn Fein and for the Ulster Unionist Party," Mr Mallon told Radio Ulster.
Meanwhile, Sinn Fein's chief negotiator, Mr Martin McGuinness, has complained about a lack of progress in implementing the Belfast Agreement.
He said it was almost five months since the agreement was concluded.
"The only real manifestation of that agreement is David Trimble installed as First Minister, Seamus Mallon installed as Deputy First Minister, and virtually nothing else.
"Everybody else is excluded, and we have not yet seen the implementation of the agreement in the context of establishing an executive cabinet, the North-South Ministerial Council, the implementation bodies and, of course, the very wide-ranging equality and justice agenda."
Speaking on the UTV Live news programme, he said the issue of how to create a new policing service that was acceptable to the entire community was even more pertinent in light of the extra powers proposed for the RUC in the British government's new security package.