Ulster Unionist leader Sir Reg Empey has said a deal to restore devolution in the North could be done by the governments' deadline of November 24th.
Sir Reg said the North's political parties had been given "time enough. November 24th is an adequate time to reach a conclusion".
Speaking on Radio Ulster's Inside Politics programme, Sir Reg said he would continue his policy of talking to loyalist paramilitary organisations.
"It's been no secret that I've been meeting with the Ulster Defence Association, the Ulster Volunteer Force and the [ UVF-linked] Red Hand Commandos," he said.
"These talks are part of an ongoing process because my view is if we want real stability, all those in paramilitary activity have to desist and we have to move on.
"Loyalists have to be treated like the republicans were and be taken by the hand by prime ministers and presidents and helped to get into a political process and that's what we should be doing."
Sir Reg also defended his decision to ally the party's Assembly group with the UVF-linked Progressive Unionist Party and referred to criticism of the move by the UUP's only MP, Lady Sylvia Hermon.
"As Lady Hermon said in the House of Commons herself, if it works and does genuinely bring change then she would welcome that and that's my attitude too.
"There's no guarantees, but you do these things for a purpose. I've taken the view for nearly a year now [ that there] has to be a wider solution to the loyalist question.
"We're interested in outcomes and the delivery of a better quality of life for everyone, and that will not happen in loyalist areas unless there is a complete transformation on the paramilitary side."
He rejected claims that his party was in a state of turmoil.
"On policy issues the party has been working well in the Assembly and we have worked very hard at producing policies from our policy units."
He acknowledged that the DUP had eclipsed the UUP in recent elections, but "that doesn't mean it's a permanent state of affairs".
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