Talks between the DUP and Sinn Féin have broken up with both parties committing themselves to further discussions.
The meeting at Stormont Castle lasted for two hours and was part of a process aimed at stabilising Northern Ireland's power-sharing government.
In a joint statement, the two parties said the delegations, which were led by Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness, discussed a range of issues.
A spokesman for Sinn Féin described the talks as a 'useful exchange' and confirmed that further meetings would take place in the coming days and weeks.
The DUP had earlier underlined its demand for Sinn Féin to confirm that the IRA is 'gone for good'.
Sinn Féin dismissed the comment as ridiculous, coming a day after an Independent Monitoring Commission report found the IRA army council had effectively ceased to exist.
The two parties are divided over a series of issues including the devolution of policing and justice powers, education reform, the future of the Maze prison site and the promotion of the Irish language.
The Irish and British governments said the IMC report should clear the way for political progress, but the DUP wants assurances from republicans that the IRA will never return.
DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds later denied his party had an obsession with the IRA.
'The obsession on the issue of policing and justice is not on the part of unionists, it is on the part of Sinn Féin,' he said.
