SDLP negotiator Sean Farren told the Glencree summer school in Co Wicklow that after a bad start the Stormont committee, tasked with preparing for government, had set about its work in a business-like manner and with less bitterness than before.

However the former Stormont finance minister said it was too early to predict whether the Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Fein would be able to set aside their differences and form a devolved government.

"If we're not to go down in history as the politicians who spurned the best means ever to build a new Ireland, to create harmonious relations between orange and green within the North and across Ireland as a whole, we need to openly and honestly grasp the opportunity we now have to restore the Good Friday Agreement . . . an opportunity which will only last until 24 November, " he said.

"Current discussions in the Preparation for Government committee have . . . after a bad start . . . got down to work at least in a business-like way and with less of the acrimony between SF and the DUP that characterised that start.

"But whether or not all the issues will be resolved in a manner that will make restoration possible is difficult to say.

"Even if all of the practical issues to do with how the Assembly, the North South Ministerial Council, the British Irish Council etc are to work, and what the arrangements should be for the administration of policing and justice, the Bill of Rights etc, the key issue is whether the DUP will see it to be in their interest to agree to enter and lead an administration with Sinn Fein.

"It is part of the challenge we face that we convince the DUP that it is in their interest and indeed in the interest of all of the people of Northern Ireland that they do so."

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and British prime minister Tony Blair have given the Assembly parties until 24 November to strike a deal which will enable the province's politicians to exercise power through a devolved government.

However the obstacles to power sharing remain considerable.

Paisley's DUP insists it will not be bounced into a government in November featuring Sinn Fein if there is no proof that the Provisional IRA has ended all criminality and paramilitary activity.