Northern Ireland's Deputy First Minister has urged political parties to rededicate themselves to the Belfast Agreement to rebuild public confidence.
In a direct message to unionists, SDLP leader Mr Mark Durkan said threats to the devolved power-sharing government in Belfast could not be afforded. To collapse the Assembly because of paramilitary threats would only hand the paramilitaries a veto over democratic politics, he said.
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In a keynote address in Co Cork at an event marking the 80th anniversary of the murder of Michael Collins, he conceded there had been a drop in support for the Agreement among the unionist electorate.
"Obviously the stalls, stand-offs and stunts that have marred the implementation of the Agreement have dissipated confidence.
"But people should not have any less confidence in the potential that they saw in the Agreement and the value they invested in it when they voted for it.
"People have however lost some confidence in the capacity of parties and governments in the wider process to live up to the Agreement's requirements and so fulfill its potential," said Mr Durkan.
He proposed all pro-agreement parties renewed the Declaration of Support that prefaces the Agreement, which he said committed them to the success of each and every one of the arrangements established under the Agreement.
The threat to the institutions of government which came from pro-unionist parties themselves could not be afforded. "To offer this threat as a response to actual or possible paramilitary activity only confers on the paramilitaries a veto over democratic politics," he added.
Some unionists argued that the Agreement could be "crashed" and an alternative renegotiated, he said. "They need to reflect on the lesson that every time they have said no to accepting or upholding a political accommodation, they have only narrowed their own options," he warned.
Mr Durkan also had harsh words for Sinn Féin for failing to take their seats on the Policing Board which oversees the Police Service. By staying on the outside the republicans had handed more seats to the very unionists who were opposed to reform of policing, he said.