The Ulster Unionists, Social Democratic and Labour Party, Sinn Féin and the Democratic Unionist Party each had ministers by right in the power-sharing assembly.

Accusations of I.R.A. espionage prompted Britain to suspend the power-sharing assembly last month and reimpose direct rule from London.

The power-sharing assembly and executive for the Catholic and Protestant communities here were set up in 1998 as part of what is known as the Good Friday Agreement, but that government was suspended in 2002.

Last week, London transferred local government authority for Northern Ireland to a new power-sharing assembly drawn from the Protestant and Catholic parties.

Britain suspended the power-sharing assembly in February, blaming the Irish Republican Army's failure to begin disarming.

Nonetheless, many unionists, most notably the DUP, remained sceptical and agreement on how to restore the power-sharing assembly still had not been reached as of July 2006.

They are working against a deadline this week for rescheduling elections to a power-sharing assembly.

The power-sharing assembly that is the centerpiece of the agreement was suspended in October over allegations of I.R.A. spying.

Under the Good Friday agreement, Britain suspended the power-sharing assembly last October because of charges of I.R.A. espionage.

It was part of the party's overall direction of consultation with its electorate before entering a power-sharing assembly.