DUP leader, Ian Paisley, has ruled out the prospect of power sharing between his party and Sinn Féin.
Speaking after talks with Tony Blair at Downing St this afternoon, Dr Paisley said Sinn Féin was living in the old days of the Good Friday Agreement and that 'we must have a new beginning'.
Dr Paisley said the Agreement had been tried and had failed and that it should be given a decent burial.
'It never had the support from the unionist community to make it stick', Dr Paisley said. He added that any chance of getting the Executive up and running again was out of the question.
Gerry Adams - who also met with Tony Blair - said the only way Ian Paisley could be First Minister was with a Sinn Féin Deputy First Minister.
Following this afternoon's talks, the Northern Secretary, Peter Hain, said the British government was now awaiting an IRA response to Gerry Adams' call for an end to armed struggle.
Mr Hain said the IRA response needed to follow the principles of the Good Friday Agreement in ending paramilitary activity and criminality.
Both Sinn Féin and the DUP consolidated their positions as the leading unionist and nationalist standard bearers at the recent British general election and the local government poll in the North.
Sinn Féin's chief negotiator, Martin McGuinness, said he was hopeful that progress could be made after the IRA completed its internal consultation process.
But he insisted that the DUP had to be committed to sharing power.
