Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness said today he believes Northern Ireland First minister Mr David Trimble will collapse the power-sharing executive before next year's assembly elections.
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He was speaking in advance of a statement by British Prime Minister Mr Tony Blair on the status of paramilitary ceasefires, expected on Wednesday.
"It is increasingly unlikely that we are going to get to the elections of next May," he said on RTÉ radio today.
"In all probability the leadership of the Ulster Unionist Party have already decided that it is much better to go quicker and on a very anti-Sinn Fein agenda," he said adding - "We are here for the long haul and the sooner David Trimble and Ian Paisley recognise that the better."
Meanwhile, Mr Trimble said the British Prime Minister Mr Tony Blair must prove he is the guardian of the peace process this week by bringing pressure to bear on republican paramilitaries to implement a "clear and unambiguous" ceasefire.
The First Minister said it was Mr Blair's responsibility to prevent republican violence continuing in Belfast, four-and-a-half years on from the Belfast Agreement.
Mr Blair or Northern Ireland Secretary Mr John Reid are expected to make a statement on the peace process before the Commons rise for the summer recess on Wednesday.
PA