Bishop Harold Miller, the Church of Ireland Bishop of Down and Dromore, has said it was with a great sense of sadness that they had learned about the suspension of the assembly on Friday night.
"We had hoped that decommissioning might begin. Indeed, that hope was expressed in an opinion poll by 87 per cent of the people of the Republic as well as by the newspapers in Britain and the USA.
"It was the hope of the world around us too. We had also hoped that the assembly would continue to deal with the ordinary issues of a normalised society: school, industry, tourism, health, and all the other things which affect us on a day-to-day basis.
And we hoped, as we entered the year 2000 just weeks ago, that we might move into a new era where weapons were no longer considered necessary and where the divisions and bitterness of the past could be left behind.
"At this moment in time, our hopes have been dashed, at least temporarily, and we are uncertain about the future.
"But it is at that very point that the Christian message comes into its own," he said.