Ulster Unionist leader Mr David Trimble tonight urged Sinn Féin president Mr Gerry Adams to take action to restore unionist confidence in the peace process.
The two men met at Stormont for face-to-face crisis talks in the wake of Mr Trimble's threat to resign as Northern Ireland First Minister in a bid to force the government to take sanctions against republicans over alleged IRA activities and the continuing claim they were behind the March break-in at Special Branch offices in Belfast.
The continuing violence on the streets of Belfast was also upper-most in the two leaders' minds as Northern Ireland prepared for the tensions of the traditional summer marching season.
After the meeting, Mr Adams said everyone had a responsibility to "bring a calming influence" to try to bring the violence to an end.
He pledged to look at the possibilities presented by the Loyalist Commission. Mr Adams said he understood and appreciated the difficulties within unionism in the wake of the continuing allegations about IRA activity - allegations which he said he did not believe.
But he said there was a similar problem for nationalists and a lack of confidence in the intentions of the British government, loyalist paramilitaries and the intentions of the First Minister himself.
Mr Trimble made it clear during the meeting there was need for action by republicans to halt the slide in unionist confidence in the entire peace process.
Speaking after the meeting Mr Trimble said : "There is a very obvious crisis of confidence ... there is an extremely delicate situation , politically and in terms of the situation in Belfast."
He said the way in which unionist suspicions about republican intentions could be could be removed was well known.
"We need to see rapid progress towards a situation where everybody is demonstrably operating only by exclusively peaceful and democratic means. "That means facing up to the existence of paramilitary organisations and the need for them to change."
The First Minister said he had asked for the meeting following an initiative by the Loyalist Commission last week to lower tensions on the streets of east and north Belfast by pledging a no "first-strike" policy by loyalist paramilitaries.
He said while republicans may be sceptical about the initiative, he urged Mr Adams to "explore the initiative and see what that can do in order to put an end to the rioting which has been marring so much of the city in recent weeks."
He very much hoped there would be a positive response from the republican movement, and an easing of tensions would follow.
Meanwhile Mr Adams said there was a need to them to work their way through the problems. "It is very, very important that we set an example and make it very clear that there is only the Good Friday Agreement and that there is no alternative."
He warned Mr Trimble: "I don't think any sense of governments or anyone else bringing sanctions against any party is the way to go forward. That is not the way to go forward."
Mr Adams called again for all the pro-Agreement parties to be brought together for a "stock-taking exercise" of progress since the signing of the Agreement.
It was not only unionists who had concerns, he said. Nationalists still wanted action on issues such as policing, demilitarisation and human rights.
He added however: "The big pressing issue is to ensure that people who are facing July with some considerable anxiety need to have some sense of confidence that this is going to be a calm July - that this month isn't going to end as it began."
Earlier Mr Trimble was warned by Deputy First Minister Mark Durkan not to collapse the political institutions because of concerns over the IRA.
"We can all adopt tactics on different issues of concern to us and create a situation where we are starring in our own stand-off but I am not sure those tactics are going to be productive.
"Just because we think those tactics worked in the past does not necessarily mean they are going to keep working in the future."
PA