A dispute has arisen between the Sinn Fein president, Mr Gerry Adams, and the Ulster Unionist senior negotiator, Sir Reg Empey, as a result of claims by Mr Adams that Sir Reg refused to meet his party this week despite being delegated to do so by Ulster Unionist leader Mr David Trimble.
Mr Adams claimed yesterday Mr Trimble told him at a meeting last week that Sir Reg would continue negotiations with Sinn Fein over the decommissioning issue and the formation of an executive while he was out of the country.
Sir Reg yesterday described the claims by Mr Adams that inter-party contact had been severely diminished in the absence of Mr Trimble as a "total falsehood". The Deputy UUP leader, Mr John Taylor, had met Sinn Fein senior negotiator Mr Martin McGuinness on Monday, Sir Reg said.
However, Sinn Fein insisted Sir Reg had "point blank refused" to meet the party or give them a telephone number to contact him. "Reg Empey knows this and no matter how much he tries to dodge the issue - and for me it's incredible and incomprehensible why he should refuse to meet, especially when his party leader recommended and commended that he should meet with me," Mr Adams said.
Speaking on BBC Radio Ulster, Mr Adams also accused Ulster Unionists of "wilfully preventing" the establishment of the new political institutions. However, Sir Reg said Sinn Fein was trying to draw attention away from the fact that it had failed to honour its obligation under the Belfast Agreement to secure IRA decommissioning. Mr McGuinness had requested the meeting with Mr Taylor and "we naturally assumed that request supplanted any request to meet me", he explained.
In Canada, Mr Trimble told a gathering yesterday that political violence was a thing of the past in Northern Ireland, and that he believed resolution of the current deadlock over arms would come.
"I hope we can move to setting up the new administration soon, although if it takes longer, it will be worth waiting to get the details right to form a solid platform for future progress," he added.
According to Mr Trimble, the campaigns of violence by paramilitaries had failed, "a fact which their leadership shows every sign of fully understanding". But decommissioning was still vital, he added, as it provided a "litmus test" of commitment to peace and democracy.
However, the party's deputy leader, Mr John Tayor, said yesterday in Belfast that the chance of agreement between the two parties over the arms issue now stood "as low as 1 per cent".
"The reality is that the IRA is unlikely to decommission and, that being so, the Ulster Unionists cannot serve in an executive with Sinn Fein. By its decision the IRA is wrecking the chances of an executive being formed by the deadline of June 30th which would include Sinn Fein," he said.
Meanwhile, Mr Gary McMichael, the leader of the Ulster Democratic Party (UDP), which has signed the Belfast Agreement, last night warned that if the June 30th deadline was missed it would spell serious trouble for the peace process.
"It is my view that if agreement has not been reached before the summer, it may as well adjourn for good," he told a branch meeting of the party in Co Antrim.
He called for the process of dialogue currently taking place between the SDLP, UUP and Sinn Fein to be widened to incorporate the smaller pro-Agreement parties.
"The UDP is not fully involved in the dialogue currently taking place and it is clear that the three main parties alone cannot deliver an answer to the problem that will directly affect everyone if not resolved."