Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney said Stormont is under its greatest threat in over 20 years ahead of Thursday's Assembly election vote.
In early February, DUP First Minister Paul Givan resigned from his position, automatically forcing Sinn Féin's Michelle O'Neill from her role as Deputy First Minister, collapsing the Assembly.
Mr Givan's move was in protest over the Northern Irish Protocol, and his party are threatening that they will not return to Stormont following the election unless the issue of checks on goods coming to the North from Britain is resolved.
Mr Coveney said that in the almost 25 years since the Good Friday Agreement was signed "the institutions of that peace agreement are perhaps more under threat now than then have been at any point in that 25 years".
"That's something that I and others need to address with calmness and intelligence given the complexity of some of those issues."
On Friday, an opinion poll estimated the DUP are currently six percentage points behind Sinn Féin. The LucidTalk poll, commissioned by the Belfast Telegraph, found support for Sinn Féin was at 26 per cent, while the DUP were on 20 per cent.
Despite the poll results, DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said he is confident his party will win the election.
If Sinn Féin were to claim a majority in Stormont following Thursday's vote, it would be the first time the party has held the most seats in the Assembly.
