Democratic Unionist party leaders Peter Robinson and the Rev Ian Paisley were urged today to face down any internal dissent over their bid to strike a deal to restore power-sharing in Northern Ireland.
As talks resumed at Stormont to revive the assembly, under the chairmanship of the Northern Ireland secretary, Paul Murphy, and junior Irish foreign minister Tom Kitt, Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness urged the hardline DUP to strike a deal as quickly as possible.
Mr McGuiness said: "I think there is now a very strong spotlight on the DUP.
"I was interested to hear that at Leeds castle people were telling us that Peter Robinson and Ian Paisley were singing from the same hymn sheet but they were having difficulties with some of the backwoodsmen who accompanied them to Leeds Castle.
"So this is a test of real leadership for Ian Paisley. This is a real test of leadership for Peter Robinson.
"We represent a political party that leads from the front.
"We don't follow our followers. We certainly consult our followers. We engage with our followers, but when it comes to taking the hard decisions, we take the hard decisions and we lead from the front."
The British and Irish governments today hoped that the talks at Stormont would build on the achievements of last week's talks in Kent.
Tony Blair and Irish taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, are believed to have thought, when the talks concluded on Saturday, that they had resolved satisfactorily the issue of IRA disarmament and the ending of paramilitary activity.
However, they were unable to close a comprehensive deal because of differences between the DUP and pro-Good Friday agreement parties over changes to the political institution.
The DUP wants to make power-sharing ministers more accountable to the assembly but has also been accused by nationalists of trying to downgrade the position of deputy first minister.
As well as participating in negotiations, DUP members met today to review their position following the Leeds castle summit and future strategy.
