The key issue in the political process is now how long the British and Irish governments are going to wait for the DUP, Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams said last night (Tuesday).
While public expectations are being fuelled about a possible deal in the next few weeks, there seemed to be very little evidence that a comprehensive package was about to emerge.
Mr Adams said it was a month since the Leeds Castle talks and that at that time, the governments announced they were satisfied the IRA would make an unprecedented contribution to the process.
Mr Adams told the Irish News he had said that this would only happen in the context of a comprehensive agreement.
"It is the objective of our party to get such an agreement.
"So, if the governments are satisfied with the IRA... then why don't we have a comprehensive agreement, a month after Leeds Castle?" Mr Adams asked.
While welcoming the DUP's recent visit to Dublin, Mr Adams said the party's stated belief in power-sharing was not evident in any DUP-held council.
"The DUP's proposals around changes in the agreement and in the institutions; some of these are clearly outside the terms of the agreement and could not be countenanced by the governments, one presumes, and certainly not by us," he said.
Mr Adams said a sustainable process of change was needed for a society in transition.
"We need a bridge which will sustain changes," he said.
"I can't see the IRA coming forward for anything less than the Good Friday Agreement.
"I increasingly get it from people about this singular focus on the IRA. We still have all of the other armed groups, including the British army, very much active on the ground. And loyalist paramilitaries, some of them not on any kind of cessation."
Meanwhile, in Dublin today, Irish foreign affairs minister Dermot Ahern will meet Secretary of State Paul Murphy to consider latest developments.
Several of the northern parties do not sense a breakthrough, as issues remain to be resolved.
Alliance leader David Ford has accused the SDLP of being disingenuous in how it has presented the political debate.
"The choice is not between defending the agreement precisely as it stands and giving in to the DUP demands," he said.
"Instead the choice is whether we make sensible reforms to the agreement, or let it die."
The SDLP's Alban Maginness claimed Mr Ford has misrepresented his party's position.
"We have never said the agreement is set in stone. Indeed, we proposed 13 separate measures to improve collectivity and accountability," he said.
