The Ulster Unionist Party leader, Mr David Trimble, hinted yesterday that he may seek to have the Mitchell review extended if the deadlock over decommissioning and the formation of an executive is not resolved this week.
Speaking in Glasgow yesterday, Mr Trimble said the "obvious compromise" was for the establishment of an executive and the start of decommissioning to be simultaneous.
"This offer has yet to be accepted, and we have yet to receive any real undertaking that decommissioning will occur at all. I am willing to move forward and indeed enthusiastic to do so, but we need to distinguish between taking a risk for the agreement and taking a risk with the agreement," he told a conference.
"I hope the review currently being conducted by Senator Mitchell will find a route to success, but if more time is needed I hope everyone will be patient. We are after all attempting to do something that no other democracy has tried. We have to get it right, and there are no models on which we can rely for guidance."
Mr Trimble also looked forward to the day when "parades could become a tourist attraction instead of something that detracts from a favourable image of Northern Ireland".
Calling for fresh impetus, the Bishop of Derry, Dr Seamus Hegarty, demanded that unionist and nationalist politicians reach agreement. They needed to be reminded of their responsibilities, he told the BBC yesterday.
"They have not delivered the goods so far, and I would be saying to them now, you are there at our behest, with our mandate, and we want you at this stage to deliver, to reach an accommodation, to implement in full the Good Friday agreement because that is what we mandated you to do," he said.
"We will expect nothing less, and we will not thank you if you allow this opportunity to go by default."
Mr Mitchel McLaughlin, the Sinn Fein chairman, referring to a statement from six anti-agreement UUP MPs in which they demanded no fudge on decommissioning, said that "everybody should unite to reject these rejectionists".
"It is obvious that all of those who were party to issuing this statement find it impossible to embrace the peace process. All of them opposed the Good Friday agreement and have been the driving force within the Ulster Unionist Party in attempting to wreck any chances of understanding between the pro-agreement parties," he added.
Mr Rory Dougan of the anti-agreement republican grouping, the 32 County Sovereignty Movement, said that grassroots republicans "should stand firm and resist all attempts to secure British rule in Ireland".
"For nationalist leaders to equate peace with the acceptance of British rule in Ireland is a grave folly, given that the British presence is in fact an act of violence. The Irish problem is Britain's denial of Ireland's national sovereignty. While Britain remains in Ireland so too will the problem remain," he added.
Mr Cedric Wilson, leader of the Northern Ireland Unionist Party (NIUP), meanwhile called on the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, to apologise for his remark at the weekend that Northern Ireland was "a place where democracy has not functioned".
"This is a total falsehood and demonstrably so," he said.
Mr Roger Hutchinson, an NIUP Assembly member, said yesterday that "Irish republicans" were training with mortars in south Armagh.
"There is no room for complacency. Everyone must be vigilant now that there are so many experienced and ruthless terrorists on early release without decommissioning of IRA arsenals," he said.
