The Belfast Agreement will be "in dire straits" if the devolved institutions are not restored by the first anniversary of their suspension on October 14th, Sinn Féin chief negotiator Mr Martin McGuinness warned today.
Speaking during a visit to London, Mr McGuinness urged British Prime Minister Tony Blair to call elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly as a matter of urgency in order to restore momentum to the peace process.
And he called on UUP leader Mr David Trimble to show "leadership" by selling the Agreement more enthusiastically to the unionist community in order to counter the arguments of the DUP and "rejectionists" within his own party.
Mr McGuinness said he hoped Mr Trimble would emerge triumphant from the current power struggles in the UUP and believed Mr Jeffrey Donaldson's decision to resign the party whip meant he was unlikely ever to lead the Ulster Unionists.
But he said that whoever led the UUP in future would have to come to terms with the fact that the Belfast Agreement was "the only show in town".
Mr McGuinness said: "The decision to postpone the elections by Tony Blair effectively disempowers the pro-Agreement parties and it is absolutely vital and essential that the British Prime Minister recognises that these elections should take place in the autumn of this year.
"If we see a situation whereby the suspension of the institutions, or the cancellation of the elections which does not provide then for the establishment of an Assembly and Executive, goes past the one-year anniversary in October, I think the Good Friday Agreement will be in dire straits.
"I think there is a huge responsibility on everyone here in England and in Westminster to make it clear to the British Prime Minister that these elections need to take place as a matter of urgency."
The postponement of elections had created "a dangerous power vacuum that could be filled by those who are not well-disposed to the peace process" in both the unionist and republican camps, warned Mr McGuinness.
PA