Northern Ireland's squabbling parties went into talks Monday aimed at reviving their power-sharing regional government after three years, with the UK election having cleared the path to Brexit.
The politically and socially volatile province has been without an administration and run by civil servants since January 2017.
The power-sharing executive between the pro-British, conservative Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and left-wing Irish republicans Sinn Fein crumbled in a breakdown of trust following a misspending scandal.
But the United Kingdom's impending exit from the European Union has given the parties new impetus to find common ground.
Thursday's general election returned a majority Conservative government, paving the way for the UK to leave the EU on January 31.
Brexit's implications for Northern Ireland and the border with the Irish Republic, an EU member state, have been the most contentious part of the departure process.
The Brexit deal agreed between London and Brussels would see Northern Ireland diverge from mainland Britain and retain some EU rules, subject to four-yearly approval of the Northern Ireland Assembly.
'Get things done'
Britain's Northern Ireland Secretary Julian Smith met the province's five main parties separately at Stormont, the assembly's seat in Belfast.
"The biggest tragedy of the talks process would be for this to get up and running and then fail," he said. "The idea that we just paper over the cracks and it fails in a few months is not a good one."
Smith is obliged to call fresh regional elections if the executive is not restored by January 13.
Both main party leaders told reporters they were hopeful of striking a deal.
"We're here to get things done," said Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald.
"I believe we can have a successful conclusion."
DUP leader Arlene Foster said: "We have a range of issues that we want to see resolved.
"I very much hope that at the beginning of the New Year we will have an assembly up and running."