Without a functioning executive branch, Britain's secretary of state for Northern Ireland, John Reid, will have little choice but to suspend the home-rule government.

Congress has established a home-rule government for the city, although city laws can be overridden by Congress, which has occurred even in recent years.

The I.R.A. stopped cooperating with the panel once before, when the home-rule government was first suspended in February 2000.

Britain had suspended the home-rule government in February after only two months because the Irish Republican Army refused to turn over any of its weapons.

They are to receive a finished blueprint for re-establishing the home-rule government central to efforts to balance power between the Protestant majority and the Catholic minority.

Meanwhile, a power-sharing home-rule government including both Protestants and Catholics has begun functioning in Northern Ireland.

The Løgting has since moved to the north of the city, but the home-rule government still sits here.

Since July, the home-rule government in which Protestants and Catholics share power under the 1998 peace agreement has been in limbo.

It was the first time those opposing personalities had met in person since the home-rule government was suspended last October.

That means that the province's divided politicians now have until late September before Mr. Reid must again decide whether to suspend the home-rule government or call new local elections.