Northern Ireland's First Minister designate has said it would be unacceptable for the DUP to delay a decision on power-sharing until after the local elections in May.
Sinn Féin’s Michelle O’Neill said the negotiations are over, and it is not practical for the DUP to be given an "endless period of time" to decide its position on the Windsor Framework, which is aimed at addressing trade concerns between the UK and the EU.
In an interview with RTÉ’s This Week, Ms O’Neill also said her party is open to having a conversation about changing the rules to prevent one party from bringing down the Northern Ireland Assembly.
She was responding to criticism of the current political structures by Alliance Leader Naomi Long who said "the current system of stop-go, up-down, ransom politics needs to end".
The DUP is currently preventing the establishment of a functioning devolved government by boycotting power-sharing in protest against the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Sinn Féin previously collapsed Stormont for three years in 2017.
Today, Ms O’Neill said her party is "very much up for a conversation" on changing the rules, however she said such a conversation could only happen once the Executive and Assembly were back up and running.
On the issue of the Stormont brake, the mechanism in the Windsor Framework which would allow 30 MLAs to block new EU laws, Ms O'Neill said it would be "very reasonable" to expect that the 30 signatures would include politicians from the two different traditions in Northern Ireland.
A document produced by the British government during the week only stated that the 30 signatures must come from two political parties, and it did not specify whether there had to be a cross-community element.
Ms O’Neill said she did not want to see the creation of a new problem in order to solve an old one.
"There shouldn’t be an ability for anybody, because of political reasons, to block EU laws."
Meanwhile, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Chris Heaton-Harris has said he does not have a timeframe on when he would call a Stormont election if required.
Speaking on Sky News, he stated he has "learned from previous lessons in Northern Ireland that you don't set timeframes".
Mr Heaton-Harris also said he would like to think the Northern Ireland Executive can get "back up and running" after clarifying all of the questions unionists have regarding the Windsor Framework deal.
He said both unionists and Eurosceptics have been let down before and that the British government is keen for everyone to have the time and space to analyse the Windsor Framework.
He said there will be a vote when people have had "proper time" to digest the details and he would not second guess what the DUP will do.
"I know there are a range of views within the DUP."
He said the DUP has asked for clarifications on a number of areas and technical talks are ongoing with all political parties in Northern Ireland this week on how the Stormont brake will work.
When questioned on this veto, he said he does not think the Northern Assembly would use it "trivially".
He said that the British government could consider changes to Northern Ireland's governance if some in the unionist community do not accept Rishi Sunak's deal with the EU.
Asked what would happen if the DUP does not back the deal, Mr Heaton-Harris said the question is theoretical and he claimed he is working to "clarify all the questions" in the unionist community.
He added: "I would like to think that at that point we will be able to get the executive up and running, but I have already, in fact last week we were passing legislation through Parliament, the Executive Formation Act, which allows me to have the opportunity to call elections at any point during the next year should that be required.
"There are other routes forward, and we need to do things on governance if that is the case.
"However, I am a glass half full man, I believe we can get this right. The Windsor Framework is an amazing leap forward. I do think it actually delivers on all the questions that have been asked.
"We need to clarify some of those for some of the unionist community. I am absolutely up for doing that."
Asked whether he could guarantee people and businesses in Northern Ireland will be able to participate in future trade deals once the new agreement with the EU has been finalised, the Northern Ireland Secretary said: "I think we can, and so... we are now left with about 3% of what was existing EU laws are going to be in place after this gets adopted.
"That is the bare minimum required to allow Northern Ireland businesses the access they have to the European single market at this point."
Asked if he may regret his words in the future, he added: "I am genuinely not worried about that."
Additional reporting PA
