Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams has warned that the political stalemate in the North is in real danger of collapsing the power-sharing government at Stormont.

The power-sharing Executive at Stormont including Nationalists and Unionists has failed to meet since June because of a failure to transfer poling and justice powers from the British government to Stormont.

In 2006 the British and Irish governments pledged that policing and justice powers would be transferred to the Stormont Executive by May 2008.

However, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) has denied that it signed up to the deal, and insisted that Republicans need to build more confidence with the Protestant community before Unionists will agree to justice powers being handed over to the power-sharing Executive.

The Executive is due to meet on Thursday, but failure to find agreement between Sinn Fein and the DUP means that a meeting of the power-sharing government has been put in doubt.

Warning of the political consequences if agreement was not found, Adams said, "We are in a very, very serious situation at this time, all of us, all of the (Assembly members) and more particularly those people who are looking to us for leadership to deal with the range of issues.

"We are going into the winter, whether it's dealing with fuel poverty, whether it's dealing with the hike in the energy costs. There isn't a weekend passes now where somebody isn't killed as a result of criminality or violence, (there is) the whole need for community safety."

Adams said his party wanted partnership government where issues important to both Unionists and Nationalists were dealt with, but accused the DUP of deliberately blocking proposals put forward by Sinn Fein ministers.

"The fact is that the people here who have been duly elected aren't even permitted, are denied the right, to bring forward legislation to deal with issues which constituents are concerned about. So we are in a very serious situation."

Questioned if the British and Irish governments may be forced to intervene in the dispute, he said, "These matters are all better worked out by people here, but I come back to the St. Andrews Agreement. It is an international agreement.

"We have the ridiculous situation where the senior party in these institutions denies that they support or that they are any part of the St. Andrews Agreement.

"I am just very, very concerned at the attitude of some of the players here, I am very, very concerned at some of the recent utterances.

"I am very, very concerned that the core which has brought us all as a people to where we are at this point is being eroded by some elements who don't believe in partnership.

"You don't have to agree with the other person's point of view in order to go into government with them, especially when you are coming out of conflict.

"You don't even have to like the other person, but what you do have to do is build a shared future based upon broad principles."