The Sinn Féin president, Mr Gerry Adams, has called for direct talks with the DUP leader the Rev Ian Paisley in an effort to resolve the impasse in the deal to restore power sharing in the North.
Mr Adams made his call after an IRA statement this morning that disclosed the lengths the paramilitary group was prepared to go to in the event of a comprehensive peace process deal.
Mr Adams said unionist demands for photographs of IRA decommissioning was "a distraction" and was making the possibility of a deal "more difficult", but he said he acknowledged the "genuine concerns within unionism" and said it was a "difficult journey for all concerned".
Mr Adam's views on the peace process
Mr Adams was critical of the DUP for not engaging with Sinn Féin and appealed to Mr Paisley as a "mandated leader of unionism" to "come and talk to me".
But the DUP's Mr Jeffrey Donaldson rejected the call saying there had been no change to the party's insistence that photographs of the decommissioning must be taken and published.
"If there's a more imaginative way around this I haven't heard it," he said.
Mr Adams's comments follow a statement published this morning by An Phoblacht, in which the IRA insisted it would not be humiliated by the DUP but said it was committed to a totally peaceful society.
He said this morning's statement by the IRA was a "declaration of intent" to deal with what he called "the big issues" and he appealed to parties concerned not to lose what he referred to as "a defining moment".
This morning's statement said the IRA would support "a comprehensive agreement" and would attempt to "further enhance public confidence" through the destruction of all IRA arms in a verifiable manner
