The DUP leader Arlene Foster has said she believes the Northern Ireland Protocol should be scrapped, but there is a need to examine the problems it is causing in a calm way.
"There's a need to focus on it and a need to find a way forward. For me, the best way to deal with it is to scrap the protocol and look at what the risk is to the European single market, because for me, it is negligible," she said.
Also speaking in Dungannon, Northern Ireland Finance Minister and Sinn Féin MLA Conor Murphy said the responsibility of leadership is to work calmy through issues.
"There are mechanisms for doing that between the British government and the European Commission which is ultimately where the resolution to these issues will lie," he said.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney said it is unrealistic to believe the protocol will go but there is support for efforts to address some of the issues that have arisen.
Earlier, the chief constable of the PSNI said people need to step back from the brink of violence, amid rising tensions over disruption to Irish Sea trade from the rest of the UK after Brexit.
Simon Byrne warned of a "febrile" atmosphere after 26 graffiti incidents were detected across Northern Ireland, and officials carrying out customs checks at ports in Belfast and Larne withdrew following the threats.
Police said they have changed their operational tempo and will be accelerating development of intelligence.
Mr Byrne told a Policing Board meeting in Belfast: "It is now time for wise words and calm heads.
"We need to work together to look at a route map to normality because that seems to be the opportunity before us, to step back from the brink in terms of community tension."
The atmosphere around Irish Sea checks is "febrile", Mr Byrne has added.
Byrne warns 300 jobs could be lost over next 12 months
Mr Byrne has warned the PSNI is likely to lose at least 300 officers over the next year.
The chief constable said the force is facing a £23 million funding deficit and he is seeking extra cash to avoid cutbacks from April.
Mr Byrne said: "It is a stark prospect that we are likely to lose at least 300 officers in the next 12 months.
"If the budget does not balance there is only one real way of closing it, which is losing people."
He said around 560 officers had fallen ill due to Covid-19.
The force is dealing with the public health emergency, and enforcing social distancing restrictions amid unionist concerns over the end of the Brexit transition period and the Northern Ireland Protocol.
It has received extra money for Brexit-related duties.
Mr Byrne said he would not be able to close the manpower gap using technology alone, which has reduced the amount of time his members have to spend in police stations doing paperwork.
He told the Policing Board: "Inevitably, to be quite candid, if we have got less people doing things then something has to be different.
"We will have to make measured and careful choices about where we continue to invest the #758 million we have got.
"I cannot rule out at the moment that there will be less people gathering intelligence or investigating crime because ultimately we have some tough choices to make."
The force is keen to preserve its ability to answer emergency calls and mount visible policing operations in areas of community tension.
The PSNI has made a business case for more money to Stormont's Justice Department and has written to the Assembly's Justice Committee.
The Northern Ireland Executive has been given a flat budget in cash terms by the UK government to run public services, but Finance Minister Conor Murphy has appealed for greater flexibility from London.
Additional reporting by PA
