THE SDLP has accused Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams of attempting to bring down the Northern Assembly by Christmas while manoeuvring to ensure that neither he nor Sinn Féin bears responsibility for such a collapse.
SDLP deputy leader Dr Alasdair McDonnell made his allegation yesterday after a week of recrimination over whether Sinn Féin or the DUP was at fault for the failure of the Northern Executive to meet for over a month - with no meetings so far scheduled for the rest of the summer.
Earlier last week Sinn Féin and DUP junior ministers Gerry Kelly and Jeffrey Donaldson denied that there was a crisis in the Executive because of the standoff between the DUP and Sinn Féin over a range of issues including policing and justice, the Irish language, the Maze stadium and a replacement for the 11-plus primary to secondary school transfer test.
Separate trips by Mr Adams and DUP leader Peter Robinson to London last week to meet British prime minister Gordon Brown nonetheless indicated problems in the powersharing administration.
On Thursday Mr Adams issued a statement chiefly blaming the DUP for the deadlock while implicitly accusing First Minister Peter Robinson of a failure of leadership. Mr Adams warned of an impending crisis if outstanding matters were not resolved.
This triggered an angry two-pronged response from Mr Robinson and DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds that points to a significant souring of relations between the Sinn Féin and DUP leaderships since the benign period when the Rev Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness were in charge at Stormont.
Mr Robinson, who described Mr Adams as the "block to progress", said he was prepared to break into his summer holiday to facilitate a meeting of the Northern Executive. Such meetings can only be held with the agreement of Mr Robinson and Mr McGuinness.
Sinn Féin has argued, however, that it is pointless to hold an Executive meeting when the outstanding matters such as justice and policing and the Irish language remain unresolved. The DUP and Sinn Féin have been engaged in talks on these matters but so far little or no progress is reported.
Mr Robinson said the DUP would "not be rolling over" for Mr Adams or any republican. "Sinn Féin just doesn't seem to get it. Progress is made and agreements are reached when both sides are content. Adams seems to think that it is the role of everyone to move to his position. That just will not happen," he added.
Mr Dodds said Sinn Féin and Mr Adams were engaging in "pathetic" and "childish" behaviour because they were not getting their way. Mr Dodds said Mr Robinson had cleared more than 30 papers for consideration at the Executive. Sinn Féin, in blaming the DUP for the impasse, was engaging in a "deliberate and calculated attempt to deceive people".
The SDLP's deputy leader Dr McDonnell entered the dispute yesterday by accusing Mr Adams of starting a "blame game ahead of a Sinn Féin inspired crisis at the heart of government".
"No one is being fooled by Adams's strategy which would see the Assembly down by Christmas and everyone can see how he is trying to ensure his party, who must take the lion's share of the responsibility, do not bear the brunt of the blame," he said.
Dr McDonnell said that Sinn Féin and Mr Adams had been "bullied and boxed in" by the DUP. "The blame game is well and truly under way and while Adams and the DUP fight it out it is the ordinary man and woman on the street who are suffering most," he added.
"The ordinary people of the North are getting fed up with Sinn Féin's ineffective, inefficient and incompetent way of government," said Dr McDonnell.
