A rift emerged today between the Government and Sinn Féin after a senior figure in the party accused sources in the Taoiseach's administration of briefing against them.
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Mr Pat Doherty
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Sinn Féin vice president Mr Pat Doherty said his party was angry that some sources in Dublin were attempting to put the blame on republicans for the failure to break the deadlock in the peace process over policing, IRA disarmament and British demilitarisation.
He said: "It is well known that Sinn Féin have been in discussion for some time with both governments on the policing issue.
"In recent days there have been briefings coming from Dublin government sources trying to fix the blame on Sinn Fein for no agreement on policing.
"This is dishonest and untrue."
Mr Doherty insisted Sinn Féin's negotiators had been working hard to resolve the problems over policing.
He said they wanted to see "a genuine, new beginning" to policing.
However, he criticised the launch of a £750,000 advertising campaign to attract recruits to the new Police Service of Northern Ireland.
"This is recruitment to the RUC. It is not recruitment into a new policing service," he stressed.
"The fact is that the nationalist and republican communities have not endorsed this.
"It is our opinion that (RUC Chief Constable) Ronnie Flanagan is acting illegally and we're currently seeking legal opinion in this matter."
Mr Doherty confirmed that Sinn Féin's legal advisers were currently looking at what action they could take following the launch of the police recruitment drive.
Republicans argue that the RUC Chief Constable is acting illegally because under the Police Act, he is required to consult a policing board to which the new service will be accountable.
However, no board has been appointed because the SDLP and Sinn Féin are still resisting pressure on them to nominate members to the board.
This was dismissed as "absolute nonsense" by Sir Ronnie Flanagan.
"I'm doing this absolutely in line with the Patten recommendations," he told BBC Radio Ulster today.
"We have created this new independent civilian agency who will create a pool of suitably qualified people from which we will recruit on a 50-50 basis."
PA