Sinn Féin accused the DUP of not engaging or negotiating at the Leeds Castle talks. Dan Keenan reports.
Mr Gerry Kelly, the party's policing spokesman, said the Rev Ian Paisley's party "did not talk to Sinn Féin, they seemed to be giving out a very clear message that they wanted to return to unionist rule. That is no way to move this process forward."
Mr Kelly said the DUP acted as a barrier to progress and needed to be challenged. "When are we going to get a reality check?" he asked.
He said the DUP wanted to do away with the "all-Ireland architecture of the \ Agreement" and acted against what he described as the essence of the accord in general, and its provisions for power-sharing in particular.
Turning to Mr Robinson's declared optimism, Mr Kelly said: "If they are willing to hear the other side of the story then they have to be close enough, in other words, they have to speak to Sinn Féin. They refuse to do that."
He said DUP negotiators were "trying to undermine the central issue which is at stake, namely partnership".
The DUP was arguing for a return to a council-style of rule dominated by unionists, he said.
He said he was concerned about Mr Robinson's earlier, more positive remarks.
"In a sense that makes me more worried. If he has the softest voice and he led the charge against power-sharing - then I wonder where we are going."
Mr Mark Durkan said he would not go along with any device that gave the DUP "a veto at whim".
Referring to the debate over ministerial accountability, he said "majority over-rule or counter-rule" over a minister's authority as laid down in the agreement would not be acceptable to the SDLP.
He said his party would stand by its "clear provisions" on power-sharing and on North-South mechanisms.
"We have proposals to improve and add to accountability and efficiency that don't detract from the agreement and don't involve changing it," he said.
Mr David Trimble, the Ulster Unionist leader, welcomed what he called the attempts by the DUP to buy into the structures his party had operated since 1998.
He said he hoped that the Leeds Castle talks had "resolved the issues of decommissioning and paramilitary activity". He said: "We wait to hear from the republican movement on that."