Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Mandelson vowed to intensify efforts to save the peace process as legislation to re-introduce direct rule cleared another hurdle in Westminster.

He was speaking following a meeting with the Irish foreign minister, Brian Cowen, in London during a day of intense activity to try and resolve the arms deadlock.

The bill to suspend the assembly - which was voted through the Commons on Tuesday - was given a second reading in the House of Lords without a vote. It is expected to complete its remaining stages on Thursday.

Mr Mandelson said Dublin and London were now in "hour-to-hour" contact as Friday's deadline, when the suspension bill is expected to become law, drew closer.

On Saturday the 800-strong Ulster Unionist ruling council meet in Belfast to debate the progress on the decommissioning issue.

"We have a little time to go - we're not going to ease up now," Mr Mandelson said.

Earlier, a debate in the House of Commons, he had made an eleventh-hour appeal to the IRA to respond "constructively" on decommissioning - saying such a move would not amount to surrender.

Mr Mandelson said the suspension of Northern Ireland's power-sharing assembly could still be avoided.

Speaking in the House of Commons, he said: "Nobody is asking for surrender by the IRA. Nobody is asking for humiliation to be heaped on the IRA.

"I just say that if politics is to work, and if we are to see the decommissioning that is an essential part of the peace process, then there must be certainty, there must be definiteness if confidence in all the institutions is going to be rebuilt."

Mr Mandelson was speaking as the House of Lords debated the emergency legislation which would lead to the return of direct rule in Northern Ireland.

He said there may be another report on decommissioning from General John de Chastelain before the end of the week.

He also seemed to respond directly to a warning from Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams that he would quit the peace process if there was a return to direct rule.

The secretary of state said: "Nobody wants any of the political parties to walk away from the peace process because we want this to work."

In Belfast, Mr Adams repeated his warning that if the peace process collapsed, Sinn Fein would have to reflect on whether they wanted to be made "scapegoats" again.

'Tragedy'

Following what could be the last meeting of the executive at Stormont before suspension, Deputy First Minister Seamus Mallon said another meeting had been scheduled for next week.

He said it would be a tragedy if the executive and assembly was halted, adding: "Nothing is ever over until the last card is played," he said. "And I don't believe the last card has been played."

The crisis came about after the first report from General de Chastelain's decommissioning body did not show enough progress towards IRA decommissioning to keep Ulster Unionists in the assembly.

Attempts to resolve the crisis continued on Wednesday with a series of frantic behind-the-scenes talks.

Prime Minister Tony Blair spoke to Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern by telephone and met Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble at Downing Street. Mr Trimble flies to Dublin on Thursday to see Mr Ahern.