With counting over in Northern Ireland's Assembly election, Ian Paisley's DUP has overtaken the Ulster Unionists as the biggest party.
Sinn Fein has also made election gains over its main nationalist rival, the SDLP.
Despite the strong showing by the anti-Good Friday Agreement DUP, the British and Irish Governments have insisted that the 1998 peace accord is "not open to re-negotiation".
The assembly was suspended more than a year ago and the parties went into the election against the background of a deadlocked political process.
The DUP secured 30 seats, three more than the Ulster Unionists. Sinn Fein took 24 seats, while the SDLP managed 18 and the Alliance gained six assembly places.
The three remaining seats went to a County Tyrone doctor standing on a single issue over hospital services, maverick unionist Robert McCartney and Progressive Unionist David Ervine.
Nigel Dodds of the DUP said his party would be holding talks with the government over the weekend.
"The DUP, in terms of percentage votes and the overall number of votes, now speaks for the unionist community and now speaks for more people in the province than any other party," he said.
Reflecting on his party's results, SDLP leader Mark Durkan said it had to "work with the hand that democracy deals us".
"The fact is that the result we have makes the job of sustaining the Agreement a lot harder," he said.
The British and Irish Governments have said they will be in contact with parties in the next few days.
They said in a joint statement that they would "seek a political way forward and to secure a basis on which the assembly can be restored and a functioning executive quickly established".
The governments said the Good Friday Agreement was "the only viable political framework" in Northern Ireland and its fundamental principles were "not open to re-negotiation".
They added that they respected the mandates received by all sides, adding that "with success comes responsibility".
The White House admitted it had some concerns over the outcome of the election.
However, US National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice said she hoped progress could continue to be made
She said any leadership should "recognise the Good Friday Agreement gives an opportunity for Northern Ireland to continue to develop.
"I do believe that, having tasted peace, the people of Northern Ireland desperately want peace" she added.