'Executive deadlock could see Assembly sessions cut'

The North's Assembly sessions are in danger of being cut back if the crisis facing the Executive is not tackled, it was warned today.

The Northern Ireland Cabinet has not met for three months and it has been claimed unsuccessful attempts were made today to reduce Assembly debates to a single day as a response to the dwindling workload.

The British and Irish governments have now been asked to step in to bring an end to the dispute between the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Sinn Féin which has caused gridlock at the heart of government.

The deadlock now threatens to disrupt a meeting of the British-Irish Council (BIC) due to take place in Scotland this Friday.

The BIC was set up under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement to bring the British and Irish governments together with the devolved governments of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, and the representatives of Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man.

Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond is to chair the meeting in South Queensferry, but now it is unclear if Northern Ireland First Minister and DUP leader Peter Robinson and Sinn Féin’s Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness will agree to attend.

The joint nature of their office has meant Mr McGuinness has been able to effectively block top level decisions, including the holding of Executive meetings, until the DUP moves on devolving policing and justice powers from Westminster to the Assembly.

Chief whip of the nationalist SDLP Patsy McGlone said: “Now there is a danger of the whole Assembly being sidelined at the very time when people are demanding that we tackle their problems.

“It is time for the two governments to lay down the law.”

He added: “The primary job of the Assembly is to deal with business brought to it by the Executive, but we are not getting any Executive business because Sinn Féin won’t let it meet. We understand there are now moves afoot for the Assembly just to meet one day a week for a few hours.

“The SDLP has no intention of allowing it to be turned into an occasional or part-time debating club at a time when people are crying out for action.”

The DUP and Sinn Féin dominate the Executive and their long-running dispute over issues including the transfer of policing powers, but also education reform and the future of the Maze prison site, has threatened the stability of the government.

Last week the UK's Prime Minister Gordon Brown visited Stormont to tell the politicians to agree a date for the transfer of policing powers, as was envisaged in the St Andrew’s agreement, but the DUP has said it will only agree to the move when it is satisfied the conditions are right.

Mr McGlone said: “People voted for devolution, not paralysis. They didn’t vote for veto politics, whether it be the DUP vetoing devolution of policing and justice or Sinn Féin vetoing the work of the Executive.”

He said the Assembly had to tackle important issues such as fuel poverty.

“We all need the backing and the moral force of the two governments to make sure it can get done. To put it bluntly, we need them to tell the blockers to get out of the road.”