New Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain insisted today he would have a direct, hands-on role in trying to bring devolution back permanently to Northern Ireland and cement the peace process.
After his first walkabout around Belfast city centre since taking over the job from Paul Murphy, Mr Hain, who is also the Secretary of State for Wales, insisted the post had not been downgraded.
He said: "The prime minister made it clear that he will keep a very hands-on approach to the whole process for securing peace and building the institutions.
"It is very, very important to him and it is important to the whole of the government. "It's an absolute priority, he told me when he appointed me on Friday night," Mr Hain said.
"(Mr Blair's chief of staff) Jonathan Powell's involvement is also crucial to that, but I intend to take myself a very direct, leading role in this alongside the prime minister and we will work together in partnership."
"We have had seven years of peace and stability and increasing prosperity in Northern Ireland as a result of the events which followed the Good Friday Agreement," he said.
"We now intend to take that forward. The people of Northern Ireland, and we have heard on the streets of Belfast here today, want peace, want stability, want self-government and that is something which we are going to take forward."
He insisted all criminal and paramilitary activity needed to end in Northern Ireland if it was to continue to make political progress. "I think we have a window of opportunity which we must open and walk through as soon as we can," he said.
Before visiting Belfast, Mr Hain met the Rev Ian Paisley at Stormont following the DUP's successes in the Westminster and local government elections.
Ulster Unionist Sir Reg Empey urged the minister to avoid becoming embroiled in a new set of negotiations with republicans on ending criminal and paramilitary activity.
The former Stormont Economy Minister said: "Peter Hain mustn't fall into the trap of starting another set of negotiations which give republicans the chance to sell the same horse for the 25th time.
"Everybody knows what republicans have to do and it has to be done clearly. People are sick listening to euphemisms like `going into a new mode'.