The Ulster Unionist leader, Mr David Trimble, has said there must be "rapid and dramatic" movement from Sinn Féin and the Provisional IRA to break the current political deadlock.
Speaking after his Party met the Taoiseach and the British Prime Minister yesterday, Mr Trimble compared the meeting to the jackpot race at Down Royal where the first runner was called "Blair" and the second was called "Same Old Story".
"It is the same old story," he said. "We have been here many times before. We have heard these issues discussed many times over the course of the last four years.
"We are still stuck by and large at the same issue - paramilitaries and whether they are going to deliver their part of the bargain. We can't just continue as in the past. We do have to get to the final chapter. We do have to be sure paramilitarism is going to be dealt with.
"The instability in the process over the last four-and-a-half years has been created by the activities of the paramilitaries and by doubt and uncertainty over the future position of paramilitaries. It is up to them to remove that. Time is short."
Mr Trimble said there was no evidence from the governments' discussions with other parties that the sort of "rapid and dramatic" progress needed had been made. The paramilitaries appeared to be just as reluctant as before to deliver on the terms signed up to in April 1998. It had been stated there would be complete disarmament of all paramilitary organisations by May 2000, meaning they were now "three years in arrears".
"There would need to be rapid movement by republican paramilitaries," Mr Trimble said. Words were not enough from the Provisional IRA as the organisation had not kept previous promises, he added.
The Progressive Unionist Party (PUP), the UVF's political wing, detected movement in its discussions with the two governments. Its leader, Mr David Ervine, said it was clear from their meeting with Mr Blair that "the game is definitely on. He seems to think it can be done in a very short time-frame." he said.
Mr Blair would not be effectively setting deadlines for next month, if he didn't believe the negotiations would succeed. He must be "pretty serious" and "at least have something in the bag".