The Stormont Assembly cannot be restored without a strong North-South dimension, the SDLP has warned.
All-Ireland co-operation, implementation bodies and a North-South Ministerial Council have been central to the party's position "and will not change" senior negotiator Dr Seán Farren said yesterday.
Speaking at a press conference in Belfast yesterday, Dr Farren said the DUP's plans for the restoration of devolution could not work since they referred solely to political arrangements internal to Northern Ireland.
"The agreement is not just about the Assembly and the Executive. It is also about North-South," he said. "And we want to ensure that all of the agreement on North-South is delivered and developed. That is why we have no interest in getting into detailed discussions on the DUP's proposals on Strand One until they confirm that they are willing to work the North-South agenda.
He accused the party of trying to wreck the North-South aspects of the agreement by refusing to attend cross-Border meetings.
"These are the kind of tactics that the SDLP is determined to see ended. That is why in the review we want Ministers to pledge to attend North-South meetings. We also want a cast-iron duty to nominate the responsible minister to North-South meetings. That way, there can be no repeat of David Trimble's tactics of holding the North-South Ministerial Conference to ransom."
The DUP is understood to be preparing proposals on cross-Border issues.
The SDLP is also seeking the immediate establishment of both the North-South Consultative Forum and the North-South Parliamentary Forum. Dr Farren pressed the British government to deliver on commitments already agreed to.
He added: "We also want to expand North-South co-operation into new areas, and create seven new North-South bodies." These would cover transport, energy, human rights and food marketing. He also called for an all-Ireland Criminal Assets Bureau, a "truth mechanism" for victims, free travel for senior citizens and enhanced human rights protection.
The SDLP, Alliance and Sinn Féin held further bi-lateral meetings with other parties at Stormont yesterday. Sinn Féin's Mr Conor Murphy echoed concerns from the Alliance Party at the two governments' handling of the review of the Belfast Agreement, claiming if they continued at their current pace the talks would last 10 years.
The SF Assembly group leader said concern was mounting that both governments had been "less than energetic" in the review.