Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern today piled pressure on Sinn Féin to endorse policing in Northern Ireland following last month's beating of Denis Bradley, the vice chairman of the Policing Board.
Mr Ahern told a SDLP conference on cross-border co-operation in Derry that Sinn Féin was trying to "shirk its responsibility."
He also called on loyalist paramilitaries to follow the IRA's lead and decommission their arms.
Mr Bradley, a former Catholic priest, was brutally beaten with a baseball bat as he watched a football match on television with his son in a bar in Derry.
He sustained a head injury in the attack in the pub on the Leckey Road and was unable to attend this week's monthly public meeting of the board with senior Police Service of Northern Ireland officers.
The assault was blamed on dissident republicans who have also threatened his life and attacked his home and also targeted other nationalists involved in policing institutions.
"I have forcefully condemned the attack last week on Denis," Mr Ahern said today. "His story is one of courage and heroism. He has paid a high price for his commitment to a fresh start in policing.
"The right thing now is for all sections of the community to follow Denis' example and participate in the task of forging a new policing service."
Unionists and nationalists condemned the attack, with Sinn Fein MP Martin McGuinness insisting it was wrong and unacceptable.
Despite Mr Bradley, the Irish Government, Catholic bishops and the SDLP giving policing reforms their approval, Sinn Fein has resisted giving the PSNI, the Policing Board and other institutions its support, insisting more legislation is needed before they can sign up.
They want the British Government to transfer policing and justice powers to a future devolved government at Stormont.
Mr Ahern also paid tribute to the SDLP, saying its support for policing had been brave. "We recognise that this has been difficult for the party politically and at an individual level," he said. "I have met with many of those involved, including District Policing Partnership members here in Derry and I applaud their contribution in opening up a new era for policing in Northern Ireland."
"I am very aware of the threats and intimidation they have suffered and personal risks they have taken."
PA