Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams in unionist compromise call

Gerry Adams said there was a window of opportunity to deal with the issues

Unionist leaders must show willingness to compromise, Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams has said.

Mr Adams said the DUP did "not appear to have the appetite for the challenge of dealing with the outstanding issues of flags, parades and the past in any serious way".

Further intensive talks were announced earlier this month, although no dates have yet been confirmed.

Six months of talks on the issues broke up without agreement on New Year's Eve.

Talks chaired by Meghan O'Sullivan (left) and Richard Haass (right) ended without agreement

Proposals drawn up by former US diplomat Richard Haass and Harvard professor Meghan O'Sullivan secured broad support from Sinn Féin and the SDLP, but the DUP said more work was needed to reach consensus.

Mr Adams said Sinn Féin had made compromises during the talks, and "unionist political leaders need to show a similar willingness".

"Despite this, there does exist a window of opportunity to resolve the issues of flags, parades and the past," he said.

"Sinn Féin will meet separately with An Taoiseach Enda Kenny and British Prime Minister David Cameron in the next few weeks.

"Party leaders in the Executive have agreed an intensive round of talks and Sinn Féin is engaging positively in this process.

"However to be successful the Irish and British governments must become more engaged in upholding and fulfilling their obligations."