The Tánaiste has warned against playing politics with the future of Northern Ireland as he expressed hope a deal can be reached on the post-Brexit trading protocol.
Micheál Martin said he would be hopeful the UK and EU could make progress toward sealing a deal on the Northern Ireland Protocol this week but said he could not be certain that would happen.
He also insisted the pace of the negotiations had not slowed in recent days.
The Tánaiste, who is in Brussels for the EU Foreign Affairs Council, was commenting as British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak came under pressure from Tory backbenchers not to concede too much ground to the EU.
"I think what's very important is that everybody now from here on think about the people of Northern Ireland," said Mr Martin.
"Not power play, not politics elsewhere, I think the people of Northern Ireland have had enough of that, of people playing politics with their future. And, in my view, my only concern is that the people of Northern Ireland voted (in last May's Assembly election), they want their institutions (at Stormont) restored.
"People had legitimate concerns around the operation of the protocol.
"There's been a very sincere and substantial attempt to resolve those concerns by the UK negotiating team with the EU negotiating team.
"I think we should allow that to come to realisation and fruition in the coming while and we should then focus on the needs of the people."
Mr Martin would not be drawn on specifics when asked for his response to calls from Eurosceptic Tory MPs for the UK government to proceed with stalled legislation that would empower ministers to unilaterally scrap the protocol.
However, Mr Martin made clear that any negotiated outcome between the EU and UK would "transcend" anything else.
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EU ambassadors have been told to be ready to be called at short notice however, indicating that a deal is close.
Read more:
At a glance: The Northern Ireland Protocol
'Big moment' for Northern Ireland Protocol talks
As deal nears on NI Protocol, how did we get here?
Mr Sunak is expected to brief his cabinet early this week on the state of play in negotiations.
Former prime minister Boris Johnson intervened in the issue, warning his successor not to drop legislation that would allow the UK to override the protocol.
Mr Sunak engaged in shuttle diplomacy that took him from Belfast to Munich over the weekend.
He had two lengthy meetings with a DUP delegation led by party leader Jeffrey Donaldson on Friday as he sought to win its backing for a potential deal to resolve the dispute.
The Conservative Party leader also met European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Germany.
Speaking afterwards he insisted that no deal has yet been finalised. The focus has shifted to London where Mr Sunak will seek to convince a majority within his own party to back any forthcoming agreement.
A number of British media reports yesterday said Mr Johnson is attempting to scupper the proposed deal.
They quoted sources close to Mr Johnson who said he has warned Mr Sunak not to ditch dropping the Northern Ireland bill, which would allow the UK to ignore the protocol.
The legislation was introduced during Mr Johnson's time in Number 10 and he wants it to remain on the table to put pressure on Europe.
The EU would likely view such an approach as an act of bad faith and that would seriously damage, and potentially end, ongoing negotiations.
Media reports also claimed Mr Sunak could face a potential rebellion from hardline Brexiters within his party if any deal allows the European Court of Justice to retain jurisdiction in Northern Ireland.
So Mr Johnson, whose government negotiated the protocol and oversaw the introduction of the so-called 'Irish Sea Border', with checks on goods coming into Britain and Northern Ireland, now stands accused of trying to hinder attempts to resolve the dispute.
The likelihood is that his intervention is about more than the protocol. Many Conservative MPs still believe that Mr Johnson as prime minister would offer a greater prospect of success in the next British general election than Mr Sunak.
Critics will view the move as an attempt to undermine and damage Mr Sunak by reducing his room for manoeuvre and his chances of success.
There has been intense speculation that a joint UK-EU announcement about an agreement could come as early as today or tomorrow, but that timetable may now slip as Mr Sunak seeks to build support.
There is no sense that the deal is unravelling.
No deal this week, says Wilson
DUP MP Sammy Wilson said he does not believe there will be a deal this week and said his party would not accept any agreement which kept Northern Ireland in the EU single market.
"If a deal is agreed which still keeps us in the EU single market, as ministers in the Northern Ireland Assembly we would be required by law to implement that deal and we are not going to do that because we believe such an arrangement is designed to take us out of the United Kingdom and indeed would take us out of the United Kingdom," he told Sky News.
"Increasingly we would have to agree EU laws which diverge from UK laws and in doing so would separate our own country from the United Kingdom.
"We are British and we expect to be governed by British law, not Brussels law. We would certainly not collaborate in administering Brussels law in our part of the United Kingdom."
Mr Wilson expressed concern that the UK government had gone into the negotiations with "an attitude of defeat" conceding too much ground to the EU.
Asked if he thought there would be a deal this week, he said: "No I don't. He (Mr Sunak) realises that there are barriers and hills to climb. He knows the kind of issues that have to be dealt with. I hope he does go into negotiations with a full understanding of what is required."
Additional reporting Juliette Gash, PA
