Stormont assembly suspended

Northern Ireland's devolved government has been suspended despite intensive efforts to break the political deadlock.

The move - which took effect at midnight on Friday - was announced by Northern Ireland Secretary John Reid who said he hoped the suspension would be brief and would be lifted by the end of the weekend.

It is the second time the political institutions will have been suspended in 18 months.

It allows another six weeks for pro-Agreement parties to find a resolution of the issues over which they are split - decommissioning, policing, demilitarisation and concerns about the stability of the institutions.

Dr Reid said significant progress had been made in the "painful and sometimes painstaking" political process.

We are tantalisingly close to being in a different world in Northern Ireland

Secretary of State John Reid

He said it would be against the interests of the peace process to "plunge Northern Ireland into an election campaign and into the more polarised political atmosphere that that would inevitably entail".

Mr Reid said: "I hope and believe that the necessary review can be completed very quickly and that I can lift the suspension and restore the situation before the end of the weekend."

John Reid made the suspension announcement

He added: "We are tantalisingly close to being in a different world in Northern Ireland. We have it in our grasp. I believe the parties should be given more time."

Prime Minister Tony Blair said the peace process was at a "very important stage".

He said: "All sides have made significant steps and I hope that we can make more progress once the review has been completed.

"When we have come so far I think most people would agree with both governments that we should allow the parties more time to bridge the remaining gaps."

Gerry Adams: "Body blow for Agreement"

Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern said he also hoped the suspension would be brief.

"However slow and frustrating the process may seem, I believe that the period ahead offers a further chance to bridge differences and to secure progress," he said.

But Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams said it was a "body blow for the Agreement" and claimed suspension was the result of a deal between the British Government and the Ulster Unionists.

"What the British Government have done is to reward David Trimble for his intransigence and his failure to give leadership on the Agreement," he said.

	:	Fast Facts Primer
Click above to launch a primer on what the governments have proposed.

Deputy leader of the SDLP Seamus Mallon said the move was "highly regrettable".

"Political stability cannot be achieved by stop-go arrangements or against the background of continuing uncertainty," he said.

John Taylor: "Responsibility now lies with nationalists"

Ulster Unionist John Taylor said the responsibility for getting the assembly re-instated lay with nationalists.

"We must wait and see what happens on decommissioning, and what happens on policing. Where does the SDLP stand?

"They have been dragging their feet on the policing issue and of course, the IRA still have not commenced their decommissioning."

Deputy Leader of the anti-Agreement DUP Peter Robinson said Dr Reid had "wantonly abused the law" by suspending the assembly.

Timetable for handover

He said the review was "not a serious attempt to resolve issues but rather a cynical device to deny the electorate the opportunity to have its say as parliament had decided they should".

On Saturday morning Dr Reid will have talks with the Irish Foreign Minister Brian Cowen at Hillsborough Castle.

The suspension move came after the main pro-Agreement parties failed to fully endorse a package by the British and Irish Governments to break the deadlock.

The other two options - an unlimited suspension or a fresh assembly election - are believed to have been rejected on the basis that they would do more damage to the political process.

The current crisis was precipitated by the resignation of Mr Trimble as first minister on 1 July, because the IRA had not begun to disarm.

The Ulster Unionists said Thursday's IRA statement - that it had agreed a scheme to put its weapons beyond use - did not go far enough and demanded a timetable for the handover of arms.

Mr Trimble said the Northern Ireland secretary should suspend the assembly in the absence of IRA decommissioning.

In the absence of agreement between the parties, there were a number of options open to the Northern Ireland secretary.

If he had not suspended the assembly, under the legislation in place, elections would have be triggered at the end of the six-week period following Mr Trimble's resignation.