Postponement of the elections was greeted with dismay by most parties other than the Ulster Unionists.
Mr Mark Durkan said it was a matter of "profound regret" that he was witnessing the move from "the politics of the last ambiguity to the politics of the last absurdity".
The SDLP leader, visibly angry and exasperated, said the further postponement of elections would add to complications rather than resolve them.
"We should not be in this situation," he said. "The governments should not be allowing the situation to go in this direction. Tony Blair needs to get a grip on things and he needs to return to the terms on which he himself was working before this."
He said he always believed Mr David Trimble was wrong in saying the only issue was that of continuing paramilitary activity. He said nationalist concerns about the UUP's commitment to the agreement were also an issue, "and they are an even more real issue now because of the debacle of recent events".
He concurred with Mr Gerry Adams, saying that he could not see what was deficient with the statement that there will be "no activities" which will undermine the political process.
"I don't see where the big issue is. I don't see that we need something itemised from Gerry Adams and the IRA. When it comes to the assurance we need from the Ulster Unionist Party, I don't expect that I am going to get David Trimble saying 'I will never again carry letters of resignation in my pocket, I will never again refuse my legal obligation to nominate ministers to the North South Ministerial Council'."
The DUP said Mr Blair was "behaving no better than the dictator that he went to war to remove from Baghdad".
Mr Sammy Wilson said: "It now seems that the opportunities for the population of Northern Ireland to express their political views can be denied at the whim of the British Prime Minister."
The DUP deputy leader, Mr Peter Robinson, said the postponement was ordered by Downing Street "to save David Trimble's bacon".
The Alliance leader, Mr David Ford, said he was disappointed and added that "republicans must take primary responsibility for not clearly making the choice between democracy and violence".
Ms Monica McWilliams of the Women's Coalition said it was not the way to get out of the crisis. "There needs to be a new approach, bringing all the parties back around the table urgently focusing on resolving the difficulties collectively."