The ongoing political crisis in the North appeared to be coming to a head this week with warnings that the power-sharing institutions could collapse if the Stormont Executive failed to meet by Thursday.

The power-sharing Executive between Nationalists and Unionists at Stormont has failed to meet together throughout the summer in an ongoing dispute over the failure to transfer policing and justice powers to the North and Unionist refusal to support legislation aimed at protecting the Irish language.

Earlier this month Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Peter Robinson warned of "serious consequences" if the Executive failed to meet by Thursday.

In recent weeks Sinn Fein and the DUP have held crunch talks to try and find a breakthrough in the political logjam.

On Monday Sinn Fein Assembly Member John O'Dowd warned that Republicans could refuse to take part in Thursday's Executive meeting if a breakthrough was not found over policing and the Irish language.

"What we want is a partnership government," he said. "To hold an executive meeting in the absence of that is only playing to the optics. "The final decision rests with the joint ministers of Martin McGuinness and Peter Robinson, but in my opinion I do not believe there has been enough progress made towards partnership government for an Executive meeting this week."

However, Robinson appeared to signal a thawing in the political cold war, insisting that the Executive needed to meet to help avert a growing crisis in the Northern Ireland economy.

"Our community out there wants to see the Executive working, they want to see us all moving forward," he said.

"I am committed, as is this party, to working all of the institutions of the Agreement. We need to be moving to a system more based on normal democratic standards."

On Tuesday British Prime Minister Gordon Brown met with Sinn Fein and the DUP to try and help broker a breakthrough.

Later he urged politicians to set a date for the transfer of policing and justice powers. Brown warned Assembly members that a minority should not be allowed to exercise a veto on progress.