DUP deputy leader Peter Robinson has said any new devolved government with Sinn Féin is likely to be "a battle a day".
He said that was why his party believed compulsory power-sharing had a limited shelf life.
Speaking at the Sinn Féin Ard Fheis in Dublin today, Sinn Féin chairman Mitchel McLaughlin said the DUP had no alternative but to accept that power-sharing was the only way the North could be governed.
"The DUP do not come comfortably or naturally to power-sharing. For them, power-sharing is a huge step," he said.
"I hope they make the right decision. We want to see Ian Paisley sharing power; we want to see Iain Paisley on the North-South Ministerial Council."