New Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain insisted today that securing a lasting peace settlement was a priority for Labour's third term.
Mr Hain, who was appointed to the post in last Friday's cabinet reshuffle, said the Prime Minister had stressed the importance of forging a permanent deal. He predicted that Tony Blair would "crack the problem" in the coming period and that there would be a "new political dispensation" in Northern Ireland .
Mr Hain pledged to work actively with all the political parties in the coming weeks to try and thrash out a way ahead. He was talking to the party leaders by phone this weekend ahead of arriving in Belfast on Monday.
Speaking on Sky Television's Sunday with Adam Boulton, he said: "We've had seven years of peace and stability and increasing prosperity in Northern Ireland and a whole change in the political culture and the way the different communities live their lives and that needs to be built upon.
"But there has been increasing polarisation in the outcome of the election - a trend, by the way, that was clear in the Assembly elections and the local elections before last Thursday."
Mr Hain continued: "I want to work very actively with all the leaders and indeed all the different representatives in the coming weeks and months to try and get this peace agreement back on the road to a permanent settlement.
"The Prime Minister told me on Friday night when he appointed me it was an absolute priority for him. "We are determined to take it forward and you just need to keep rebuilding the trust."
Challenged that many of the party leaders, including Mark Durkan, David Trimble and Rev Ian Paisley, did not trust Mr Blair to deliver on Northern Ireland , Mr Hain replied: "People say all sorts of things in the heat of the moment."
Mr Hain also spoke to the Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern and to meet "as quickly as possible".
In a personal telephone call to Mr Hain this morning, Mr Ahern congratulated him on his appointment.
"Mr Ahern and Mr Hain agreed to meet as quickly as possible to set out a clear agenda for progress out of the current stalemate," a spokesman for Mr Ahern said.
"They spoke about the need to secure a way forward that is based on exclusively peaceful and democratic means and on a real commitment by all parties to partnership politics," he added.
Mr Ahern and Mr Hain could meet as early as next week with the British and Irish Governments expected to engage with political parties soon after.
Mr Ahern today also contacted outgoing Northern Secretary Paul Murphy and praised him for his contribution and dedication to his job and wished him well in the future.
Mr Murphy was appointed chairman of the Parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee in the post-election reshuffle.
PA