The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dermot Ahern, has warned the Northern Ireland parties that time is running out to reach an agreement on the restoration of the devolved assembly at Stormont.
In a speech to the British-Irish Association at Oxford University tonight, Mr Ahern said the outstanding issues between the parties were capable of being resolved by the 24 November deadline.
However he warned that the two governments would take control if the parties did not take the opportunity.
Next time, the two governments and the Northern Ireland parties will get together in Scotland for a round of intensive talks aimed at reaching agreement on the restoration of the Stormont Assembly.
But in his Oxford speech, Mr Ahern warned that it is now only 11weeks to the November deadline by which that agreement must be in place.
The minister said the context for progress had never been better, citing a peaceful marching season, a stable security environment, provisional IRA decommissioning and signs of positive movement in loyalism.
However he warned that the alternative to devolution in November would not be the shelving of the Good Friday Agreement but its fullest possible implementation with enhanced North South co-operation.
The minister is due to meet the Northern Secretary, Peter Hain, in Dundalk, Co Louth, on Monday.
