The first meeting of an Assembly committee established to smooth the path to the devolution of powers has broken up in acrimony.
No agreement was reached on a chairman for the 14-member Preparation for Government Committee, which is tasked with outlining the obstacles to restoration in preparation for the talks hosted in Belfast by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and British prime minister Tony Blair at the end of the month.
The Rev Ian Paisley's DUP said it would not tolerate any arrangement for the chairmanship which included Sinn Féin. It also called for a two-week extension to the November 24th deadline for agreement on devolution, claiming the Assembly had not been given work to do for the past fortnight by Northern Secretary Peter Hain.
Sinn Féin, Ulster Unionists and the Alliance Party criticised the DUP, accusing them of blocking progress by refusing to engage fully. The SDLP went further and accused the Northern Secretary of allowing himself to be manipulated by the DUP.
Mr Hain said last night the committee would meet again this afternoon after an Assembly debate on industrial rates.
"The fact that the parties have not been able to agree on who is to chair the committee must cause those who elected them to question their commitment to getting back to work," he said.
"I have asked the speaker to talk to the parties urgently to resolve the issue of how to chair the committee."
Refusing the DUP call for a deadline extension, he insisted the November 24th date stood and said he would review progress on the Preparation for Government Committee before deciding on future business for the Assembly.
Martin McGuinness, Sinn Féin's chief negotiator, said the DUP had sent members to the committee with the "sole objective" of preventing progress. A range of proposals for nominating a chair on a shared or rotational basis were all opposed by the DUP, he added.
Sinn Féin would accept the Rev William McCrea, nominated by the DUP, as a chairman but only on a shared or rational basis, Mr McGuinness said, but that party was unwilling to agree.
The DUP also nominated Alliance member and Assembly Speaker Eileen Bell but she had already ruled herself out.
Alliance leader David Ford said the principle of sharing the chairmanship had to be agreed.
SDLP leader Mark Durkan said the DUP was in the business of "carry on vetoing. They set about making sure that this committee could not even do its preliminary business," he said.
Mr Durkan concentrated criticism on Mr Hain, singling out the Northern Secretary's "silly belief that we can all have confidence in the DUP", on the basis that the leading unionist party was ready to engage with nationalists.
He said Mr Hain should "move decisively to restoration" and set a date for the devolution of powers to "flush parties out".