Northern Ireland Secretary, Mr Paul Murphy, today began a series of meetings to discuss the restoration of power-sharing in the wake of the Assembly election.
But what is now the largest party in the North, the DUP, has warned the Belfast Agreement must be radically altered before the Executive can be restored.
Mr Murphy held separate talks with Ulster Unionist leader Mr David Trimble, whose party was overtaken the Democratic Unionists in the election.
He also met Sinn Féin president Mr Gerry Adams and SDLP leader Mr Mark Durkan at Hillsborough. Sinn Féin overtook the SDLP in the contest for nationalist seats.
Dr Ian Paisley's anti-Belfast Agreement DUP, which secured 30 seats, is expected to meet Mr Murphy early next week.
The DUP's victory delivered a severe blow to British and Irish hopes of resurrecting the power-sharing executive which was suspended in October last year amid allegations of IRA intelligence gathering at Stormont.
The election result also caused disquiet in Ulster Unionist ranks, with some of Mr Trimble's internal critics suggesting he could face a leadership challenge if he failed to radically change policy.
The Ulster Unionists emerged as the second biggest party in the Assembly with 27 MLAs.
Sinn Féin had 24 candidates elected, the SDLP finished on 18, the cross-community Alliance Party secured six, the loyalist Progressive Unionists achieved one seat, the UK Unionists had one and an independent Assembly member was also elected.
Sinn Féin secured the second biggest share of the overall vote.
In a joint statement last night, the British and Irish Governments said they respected the result of the Assembly election and would do everything to restore the Assembly and power sharing executive swiftly.
London and Dublin also said they believed devolution had to be stable and fully inclusive.
Both governments promised to bring forward proposals in the New Year for a review of the Agreement. They insisted: "This is a review of the operation of the Agreement ... Its fundamentals are not open to renegotiation."
A DUP spokesman welcomed the governments' pledge to respect the new Assembly members' mandates. But he added: "We will be seeking further clarification from the government as to what they mean by 'fundamentals of the Agreement' and a stable form of devolution.
"We also be asking, will it be a full scale negotiation and not just a tinkering at the edges of the Agreement?"
Although there has been speculation that pragmatists in the DUP might deal with Sinn Féin, Dr Paisley has repeatedly said that he would not negotiate with Sinn Féin. "Anyone who talks to Sinn Féin will be out of my party," he said.
The DUP's Mr Gregory Campbell insisted the British prime minister and the Taoiseach would have to admit Belfast Agreement was no longer workable. The East Derry MLA said: "Both of them will have to face up to the same reality as David Trimble."
Mr Ahern and the British prime minister, Mr Blair, met in Cardiff yesterday for around 45 minutes for talks which were described as very productive by aides. They are expected to meet with the North's parties early next week.
PA