Northern Ireland Secretary, Dr John Reid, urged the IRA today to get rid of their weapons and clear the logjam blocking the Northern Ireland peace process.
Speaking after Mr David Trimble resigned as Northern Ireland's first minister, Dr Reid said the IRA must disarm before progress could be made.
"There is no doubt at the moment that the major concern is that weapons must be put beyond use," he said.
Dr Reid was attending a ceremony marking the anniversary of the World War One Battle of the Somme in which thousands of Northern Irish troops died.
"There is no solution to the implementation of this agreement unless that question is addressed, and addressed directly," he added.
Dr Reid returns to the negotiating table tomorrow. Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and British Prime Minister Tony Blair are expected to weigh in the following week.
Dr Reid said he regretted Mr Trimble's decision to resign, but added that the peace process was not dead.
"We have to redouble our efforts. All of the parties in the agreement say they are committed to implementing in full, so over the next few weeks we need to get down and do precisely that, he said. Nothing less than that will do."
The IRA has allowed inspectors to check its weapons twice, though Mr Trimble and Dr Reid say that is not enough. Dr Reid said Britain had answered demands by Sinn Féin to reduce troop levels.
"We have closed 41 military establishments and we have reduced troop numbers by 50 per cent to around 13,000 now."
"Substantial progress has been made, and if there is a further reduction in the threat, and the putting of arms beyond use, then we have made plain we will go further," he added.
Dr Reid said he wanted to avoid suspending the assembly. "I believe that if all of us commit the efforts which we say we are prepared to commit then we can achieve not the suspension of the institutions but the implementation of them," he said.