Speculation was mounting at Stormont tonight that debates in the reconvened Northern Ireland Assembly could be put on hold for the foreseeable future.
The Northern Ireland Office tonight was believed to be sending out letters to the Assembly parties to inform them that no business is scheduled for next week.
However sources said they feared that there would be no more Assembly debates in the near future in a bid to avoid the nationalist SDLP joining Sinn Fein in boycotting them. A Stormont source said: "There is some nervousness right now about the future of this Assembly.
"The Government would obviously not be keen to have the SDLP join Sinn Fein in boycotting Assembly debates. People would not want to see empty nationalist benches because that would send out worrying signals."
Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain reconvened the Assembly two weeks ago in a bid to build up trust between unionists and nationalists before the November 24th deadline for forming a power-sharing government at Stormont.
However nationalists have been sceptical about the Assembly sitting before devolution. Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams has dubbed the current Assembly "the Peter Hain Assembly".
The nationalist SDLP, however, opted initially to take part in debates on issues affecting a future devolved government.
However Mark Durkan's party warned the Government not to take its participation for granted, warning that it would judge whether taking part in debates was worthwhile on the basis of how the Northern Ireland Office responded to motions from MLAs criticising Government policy.
In the first of a series of motions testing British government attitudes to the Assembly, the SDLP tabled a motion which was debated this week criticising British government policy on rural planning.