In a radical set of proposals the DUP has said the Stormont Assembly could get up and running without prior IRA decommissioning.
Dr Ian Paisley's party, in its latest proposals for reviewing the Belfast Agreement, said it would not share power with Sinn Féin unless the IRA finally engaged in acts of completion including total disarmament.
To get the Assembly up and running in the interim, the DUP have suggested a Corporate Assembly. This involves devolving power to the Stormont Assembly as a whole, and allowing all 108 MLAs to run government departments themselves.
This would mean the MLAs would vote on decisions for the government of the North or make the decisions at committee level. When a controversial decision is needed to be made, the DUP propose this be made by means of a key vote.
A key vote would mean a decision would require a majority of either unionists or nationalists or 70 per cent of the Assembly as a whole.
Northern Ireland Secretary Mr Paul Murphy described the DUP proposals as "very constructive" and said they could form a basis for further discussions.
"There are some very interesting ideas in there. It could mean that devolution could be restored," he told the BBC Radio 4 World At One programme.
Ulster Unionist leader Mr David Trimble accused the DUP of watering down his party's demand for the standing down of the IRA and other paramilitary groups.
The Upper Bann MP said: "On one front they have moved towards our position but on the other front they are actually diluting the requirement that paramilitaries should wind up.
In another proposal, the DUP said a voluntary coalition government could be formed if the SDLP agreed to go forward into government with unionists but without Sinn Féin.
A mandatory coalition government would only be formed including Sinn Féin if the IRA finally engaged in acts of completion including total disarmament.
Unveiling the proposals at a Belfast news conference party leader, Dr Ian Paisley, said they had been told by all and sundry there was no alternative to the Belfast Agreement, no Plan B and that the Agreement could not be negotiated.
But he said: "Negotiations have now begun. Negotiations which must bring about a new Agreement based on democracy, a fair deal which is capable of getting the support of unionists, not just nationalists."
He said the DUP would be taking its plans to the Agreement review talks that began this week and resume on Monday.
Additional reporting PA