DEPUTY LEADER Naomi Long was strongly critical of the Executive and its performance since last year.
"The DUP said, on entering the Executive with Sinn Féin, that it would be a 'battle a day'. The sad reality is that as Sinn Féin and the DUP continue to battle daily with each other, the biggest losers are the people of Northern Ireland, and the biggest casualty has been public confidence in politics."
She spoke of the need to battle against social exclusion and homelessness and called for a "shared future, against the corrosive and poisonous sectarianism, racism, homophobia and prejudice which pervades our community and blights peoples lives".
She chided Executive members for their lack of maturity, accusing the other party leaders of squabbling like children and warned that the public was weary of an Executive which had promised a better quality of life but had achieved little. "Patience with the Executive stand-off is not simply wearing thin, it has all but run out," she said.
Ms Long warned that dissidents were exploiting the current political instability. "It is no coincidence that at a time when we are witnessing political instability and crisis that those opposed to any political settlement are exploiting that instability, through violence directed at the police service and the wider community."
Stephen Farry, MLA for North Down, focused on the economic consequences of division. "We have been clear on the financial costs of division. Due to the implicit and explicit diversions of resources to provide goods, facilities and services behind different sections of the community, Northern Ireland is losing out and falling behind.
"Our health service is around £200 million (€250 million) short of keeping up with the pace of investment in the rest of the UK. Our mental health budget is chronically low, to give just one example. Water charges loom on the horizon, the Executive cannot defer them any longer without a massive cut in services. Our infrastructure still lags behind badly, not least in the field of public transport," he added.
He also warned of a two-speed society developing. "There is a real danger of a two-speed Belfast and a two-speed Northern Ireland, with a highly mobile population benefiting from new economic opportunities while others lose out." Dr Farry said the education system impeded the development of the workforce and created barriers for the full development of individual talents.