At Downing Street this evening the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said suspending the Northern Ireland Assembly would not be a good idea.
Ahead of a working dinner meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Mr Ahern said he hoped to lay the ground for talks designed to save the Belfast Agreement.
Mr Ahern confirmed they would be looking at all the issues, including policing, decommissioning and stability of the institutions.
"There is an obligation on everybody to try to make as much progress as possible over the next week," Mr Ahern said.
"We all have the responsibility to try and avoid a disaster situation by not completing this agreement. It won't be easy but we will do as much as we can to succeed."
Mr Ahern said he hoped they did not reach the situation where they were facing new assembly elections but added "inevitably in a democracy elections is what happens if things don’t work".
Mr Blair today said Northern Irish politicians must choose between democratic politics and alignment with paramilitary organisations.
Mr Blair said: "There is no doubt that decommissioning is an obligation under the Good Friday Agreement. It is an obstacle to progress and that is why it is so important that we have movement now."
He said: "I think that moment of choice is here and now."
The Northern Secretary, Dr John Reid, and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, are due to chair talks with the political parties in the North tomorrow or Friday.
Mr Ahern and Mr Blair are then expected to travel to Belfast to join the talks next week.
The pro-agreement parties and the two governments have six weeks to reach a deal to prevent a political crisis in the North. Failure to do so could mean the suspension of the North's political institutions or fresh Assembly elections.
PA