SINN FÉIN president Gerry Adams has criticised the DUP over its stance on justice devolution and said there is no reason for it to be delayed further.
"After an unnecessarily long negotiation, the DUP and Sinn Féin set out areas of progress between us on the transfer of policing and justice powers," he said. "But there is still work to be done on this, including on the timeframe for transfer."
He said Sinn Féin believed "the vast majority of citizens" want justice powers transferred to Stormont. He also claimed Monday's announcement of agreement on the form a new justice department would take was a sensible step designed to ease fears on both sides.
However, Ulster Unionist leader Sir Reg Empey said the Sinn Féin-DUP plan for a single department headed by a sole minister elected on a cross-community vote in the Assembly was ill thought-out and premature.
Alliance sources said yesterday it was most unlikely the party could be offered anything by Martin McGuinness or Peter Robinson which would make it change its decision not to accept a justice minister nomination.
"I think this is half-baked," Sir Reg said. "I don't think we're ready for it, I don't think the people want it," he said.
"I don't know who's going to do it [be justice minister], because we've not been involved in any discussions on it, it appears the Alliance haven't been properly involved in discussions on it, I don't believe the SDLP has.
"So how you can announce an agreement, without other parties being involved in it, escapes me."
But Adams countered, claiming: "The [ current] position is not sustainable ad infinitum. It should've been done under the terms of the St Andrews Agreement.
"This is the agreement which the DUP claimed to be a new agreement; new, confident unionism had negotiated this out, so there is absolutely no reason now why this can't be done as quickly as possible." Mr Adams added that people "want the institutions to be delivering for them".
Referring to the announcement by his party and the DUP that neither of them would put forward a name for appointment as justice minister, Mr Adams said this position was a temporary one designed to meet understandable concerns.
"What we were trying to do in a sensible way was to deal with what are expressed as unionist concerns. There are also nationalist and republican concerns, I mean can you imagine a DUP justice minister? So there's a trade-off here, in a sensible way, trying to deal with the sensitivities of the issue," he said.
Mr Adams pressed for the Executive to deal with the concerns of the public, including unionists.
"It's my very, very strong view from talking to people, talking to ordinary unionists I bump into, that people want to see the powers to bring in legislation to deal with a myriad of issues, from street drinking to violent crime to repeat offenders to the rights of victims and that's all far better done by local accountable ministers," said the Sinn Féin president.