The Sinn Fein President Mr Gerry Adams has called on the British government to produce a plan for the implementation of outstanding parts of the Belfast Agreement, which he indicated could create the context for movement from republican groups.
Following the 70 minutes of talks at Downing Street, which he characterised as "a good engagement", Mr Adams insisted that elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly scheduled for May should go ahead even if the institution remains suspended.
However Mr Adams questioned the British government's willingness to proceed with elections saying: "I remain slightly sceptical about the British Government's willingness to go ahead with the elections, but there is no reason why they shouldn't go ahead.
"I think it would be an indictment of this government and the attempts to put together a political process if the elections were postponed."
The government had until about March 20 to make a decision on the elections, and it would be an "indictment" of its policy if it chose to postpone them, he said.
This week's round of discussions was "not the end, but the beginning" of a series of talks to revive the peace process after the suspension of the province's power-sharing institutions, said Sinn Fein's chief negotiator Martin McGuinness.
"This is the beginning, I think, of a real dialogue and negotiations which will take place over what could be the most critical six to eight weeks we have seen in the history of the last 30 years and even the last 80 to 90 years," said Mr McGuinness.
The comments followed an earlier IRA statement, which accused British military chiefs and loyalists of putting the peace process under pressure.
Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble dismissed the IRA statement as the "work of people living in an unreal world".
The onus was on the republicans to sort out the consequences of their own "recklessness" in getting involved in spying at Stormont and alleged contacts with Colombian guerilla group FARC, he said.
Mr Adams rejected the idea that he should approach the IRA to seek further gestures in a bid to get the process back on track.
However he did say: "If the British Government honours the commitment Mr Blair made last October and puts together a context, then of course that changes the situation and all of us would be challenged then to enter into that new context.
"That new context isn't there as we speak, but hopefully this meeting has been a useful step to focusing the British Government on the need to bring that about with all speed.
"There is not a full implementation plan on the table at this time, but bear in mind that this is actually the beginning of these negotiations, not the end."