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The Northern Ireland political talks are on the verge of breakdown, IrishCentral has learned.
Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams says that talks on the devolution of policing and justice powers from London to Belfast have ended.
Adams was supposed to attend talks with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) on Thursday but says he has finished.
Writing on his blog Leargas, Adams said:
"Apparently the DUP were sitting up at Stormont Castle on Thursday waiting for the Shinners to come and talk to them. Strange. This Blog had told Peter Robinson late the evening before that that phase of our discussions was over.
"I told him there would be a Sinn Féin national officer board meeting on Thursday and a report from Martin McGuinness on the negotiations would be discussed.
"The failure of the DUP thus far to come up to the plate during the current round of negotiations shouldn’t come as any great surprise."
However, a Sinn Fein spokesman told Reuters news agency that future talks were still possible.
"Our door is still open. We will talk to anyone, anywhere, anytime but there needs to be product. We simply can't go on negotiating for negotiation's sake," he said.
The DUP's beleagured president, Peter Robinson, is still leading his party's side of the talk despite the fact that he is on a six-week break.
Robinson, who announced he was taking a temporary break as first minister amid the sex scandal involving his wife Iris, said he hoped to continue talks on Monday.
"Negotiations can't be over until matters are resolved," he said adding that he was surprised and disappointed by Sinn Fein.
"I think the people of Northern Ireland recognise that anyone who steps away from the table endangers the entire process. No one wants to go back."
The relationship between the DUP and Sinn Fein has been strained by who should take responsibility for policing and justice in the North.
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