Republicans have rejected an offer by the Catholic Bishop of Derry to personally accept weapons from the IRA in an attempt to end the deadlock over decommissioning.

In an article published in the nationalist Irish News newspaper, Dr Seamus Hegarty said he was ready to act as a guarantor and supervisor for the safekeeping of a quantity of arms for the period of a year.

Bishop Hegarty said he had taken the initiative "to allow time and space for the political process to develop" and because he can see "no other acceptable alternative".

However, Sinn Fein assembly member Alex Maskey said the matter should be left to General John de Chastelain who heads the body overseeing decommissioning.

In a comment to the BBC, he said: "The pressure and sense of crisis created by David Trimble's unilateral deadline and the British Government's threat to suspend the institutions is obvious.

"While the bishop is responding to this sense of desperation in attempting to make a positive contribution, the most effective way of dealing with this issue is through calm and considered political dialogue and by allowing the International Independent Commission on Disarmament to do its job."

Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams said the bishop's offer was a "well-intended contribution".

However, Mr Adams questioned how effective the offer could be now that it had been made public.

Secretary of State Peter Mandelson welcomed the bishop's intervention as "courageous and imaginative".

He expressed the hope the various parties would consider Dr Hegarty's offer seriously.

Vehemently anti-violence, Dr Hegarty has tended to keep out of the political spotlight.

Unprecedented intervention

His unprecedented intervention hinted that he believed the Northern Ireland peace process had reached a serious situation.

Acting with the knowledge of the Catholic Primate, Archbishop Sean Brady, Dr Hegarty had said he would act as guarantor on the clear understanding that weapons would be put beyond use by the decommissioning body.

He stressed that it was a once-off offer which had not been easily made.

He added that he had made the offer because he felt he had a moral responsibility to do everything to ensure that political progress continues.

"The time has now come for me to take my own risk for peace," he said.

The bishop said he would not enter into the political negotiations on the details or substance of the initiative.

His offer came as legislation which will suspend Northern Ireland's political institutions was making its passage through the House of Lords, having been overwhelmingly endorsed by the Commons on Tuesday.

The suspension move is as a result of the IRA's refusal to decommission arms and the Ulster Unionist position that they can not continue in government with Sinn Fein without terrorists handing over weapons.

Secretary of State Peter Mandelson welcomed Bishop Hegarty's offer and urged "all sides will consider his proposal seriously".

"The bishop's proposal is imaginative and courageous. he has shown true leadership at a critical time," he said.

Social Democratic Party chief whip and MP for South Down Eddie McGrady urged both republican and loyalist paramilitaries to respond to Dr Hegarty's "generous and responsible offer".

He said they had betrayed the trust of many people by not starting to decommission weapons.

"It has been a retraction and a betrayal of the intense negotiations and indeed the political sacrifices made by many, many people and many parties, that that it has not commenced," he said.

Mr Hegarty's offer was also welcomed by Irish Premier Bertie Ahern.