President Bush's special envoy to Northern Ireland has pressed the IRA to end its activities and all political leaders to face up to "tough and important decisions".
Mr Richard Haass was developing the tone in Mr Bush's statement yesterday in which the President said suspension of the Stormont institutions was "difficult but necessary". Mr Haass said the White House remained involved in the peace process, but added that another bout of US shuttle diplomacy was not what was required.
"What is needed is a greater willingness on the part of the key leaders in Northern Ireland to make some very tough and important decisions. In this case in particular what is needed is a decision to end the behaviour of paramilitaries once and for all."
Avoiding the sensitive term "disbandment", he said politicians needed to make tough calls and then act upon them. He told the BBC: "Diplomacy will clearly continue. The peace process is actually quite robust, quite resilient. I think it's important to keep that in mind."
His comments followed remarks by the former leading Belfast republican, Mr Martin Meehan, who said that his view was that the IRA war was over.
These are adding to the pressure on republicans following the reintroduction of direct rule from Westminster which came into effect at midnight on Monday.
Yesterday the Sinn Féin president, Mr Gerry Adams, said: "Certainly for many republicans the war is over, and those who see it like that will say so. But what I have to deal with is the management of a conflict resolution process."
He continued: "If I lived in the Short Strand [in east Belfast] and saw the bomb attack even on Monday night or over the weekend, I would think there was something wrong, that there was a whole focus on the IRA and no attention being paid to or tolerance of unionist paramilitary actions."
He said he endorsed the objectives the US envoy had outlined. "I think we would share with Mr Haass the need to bring about an end to all armed groups. He knows that the pressure can't be reduced to a single-item agenda."
He returned to criticism of the Northern Secretary, saying Dr John Reid had not heeded advice, which was exacerbating the crisis rather than assisting the peace process.
Calling for the British and Irish governments to spell out clearly how they will implement the Belfast Agreement while direct rule is imposed, Mr Adams said: "Most of the British Secretary of State's remarks [ON MONDAY])]focused on the IRA. I recognise that the issue of armed groups needs to be dealt with. This includes the IRA. But this process is not a single-issue process."
Mr Adams said his party would maintain contact with the two governments while seeking a series of bilateral meetings with the other parties.
The SDLP leader, Mr Mark Durkan, repeated calls for all pro-agreement parties in the Republic and the North to co-ordinate their efforts.
Speaking in Dublin yesterday where he was meeting political leaders and campaigning for a Yes vote in Saturday's referendum, he said: "Both Enda Kenny and Ruairí Quinn were clear in their support for the two governments doing all they can to drive and deliver the agreement and to govern in accordance with its provisions and promises. They were both clear on the dangers of drift if intensive and inclusive efforts to sort things out are not undertaken," he said.
Mr Durkan opposes talk of "cooling off" and is pushing for immediate and concerted efforts to seek the return of the Stormont institutions and for full implementation of the agreement, especially on issues related to human rights, justice and policing.
The Policing Board which was also covered by Dr Reid's suspension order has been reinstated, and the board chairman, Prof Desmond Rea, welcomed the decision by all members to accept reappointment.
He continued: "I would expect nothing less from a group of people who in the last year have shown unwavering commitment to getting the best policing possible for Northern Ireland."