The foreign press, particularly in Britain, gave full coverage to the setback to the Northern Assembly, but many chose not to editorialise.
In the British newspapers the word "farce" was used frequently to describe events but, apart from a couple which engaged in more unrestrained comments, mostly refrained from attributing blame. A number speculated on the position of Mr Tony Blair, an angle also taken up by the French press, which regarded it as a setback for the British Prime Minister.
The Daily Telegraph chose to highlight Mr Blair's position. A page one story said Mr Blair was facing his biggest political failure since he came to power. It carried no editorial but in an article it commented: "Failure is a new experience for New Labour - and it doesn't like the taste."
The Independent gave the story page one coverage with pictures of the key players. Under a headline "The day Ulster lost heart", the story described events as "a day of high drama and low farce".
The paper also highlighted Mr Blair's position, saying it was a severe personal blow. It speculated that Dr Mo Mowlam would be moved in a government reshuffle in two weeks.
The Guardian carried a page one piece which described the events as "self-indulgent farce". In a story inside, Ireland correspondent John Mullin took the line that Mr Blair's approach was increasingly confused and his credibility damaged.
The angle in the Express was that Dr Mowlam was to be moved within days to save the peace process.
The Daily Mail and the Times were two of the few newspapers which wrote editorials and they took the same line. The Times cited the greatest obstacle to stability and democracy as militant republicanism. "Any genuinely neutral observer conducting a post-mortem in Ulster would see that the still-smoking guns belong to the IRA, whose campaign of intimidation and terror has not abated during political negotiations."
The Daily Mail was equally strong. "If the province faces an uncertain future, it is because the IRA has flatly refused even to begin honouring its obligation to disarm. And it has clung to every bomb and bullet while conducting a vicious campaign of low-level terrorism."
However, the Sun wrote an optimistic editorial, devoid of blame, stating that behind the scenes the parties did want a deal and the future was not bleak.
In France, the Catholic French daily, La Croix, was the only French newspaper to put the suspension of the peace process on its front page. "Peace in Ulster will wait until the autumn," was its headline.
But like the three main French dailies (Le Monde, Le Figaro and Liberation), la Croix covered the event from London and stressed the setback to Mr Blair. "Tony Blair fails in the face of the unionists," was its inside headline.
If the peace process was not dead, it was certainly in very bad trouble, wrote Patrice Claude, London correspondent for Le Monde.
The right-wing daily Le Figaro, France's best-selling newspaper, put the Northern impasse on page four. "Why was this rendez-vous with history missed?" Jacques Duplouich wrote from London.
The left-wing newspaper Liberation blamed Mr David Trimble. "In Northern Ireland, the obstinacy of David Trimble threatens peace," was its subtitle.
In Belgium, an analysis piece in Le Soir speculated that while the insistence of unionism on IRA disarmament was understandable, did it really imply that the Protestant majority rejected the agreement?
The New York Times characterised the UUP position as revealing "a failure of imagination by the party and especially Mr Trimble". An editorial said grassroots organisations should press politicians to respect the electorate's endorsement of the Belfast Agreement.