Gerry Adams has indicated that the next few weeks could be make or break for the Northern Ireland peace process.

The Sinn Fein president also called on the DUP to step up its co-operation with republicans.

Speaking in Downing Street after talks with the prime minister, Adams said that "it is time to sort all of this out".

Noting that it was 10 years since the first IRA cessation of its armed campaign, the Sinn Fein chief also highlighted his party's anxiety to reach a final deal in the coming weeks.

He was speaking a day after the two governments put forward their proposals to end the current deadlock in the peace process.

"We want to see this done certainly within the next number of days or weeks," Adams said.

Sinn Fein was now seeking assurances on the details of the plans put forward by the two governments, he said. "That shouldn't take too much longer."

"We are coming at this to make this work," Adams added.

"We've never had a problem [with changing the Good Friday agreement], we've put forward proposals ourselves for the better delivery of the agreement, but we do have problems if people want to move away from the core of the agreement."

Adams described the Number 10 talks as "useful", with more "intense" negotiations to come.

"Within a relatively short time we will either prevail and get the basis for a comprehensive agreement, or we will not," he said.

"Our hope and our intention is that we will get such a basis."

Adams also said the DUP should show some "new thinking" on working with republicans.

That call came as the DUP issued a statement saying the latest plans contained areas of "confusing ambiguity and even apparent inconsistency".