The SDLP has revealed its minister, Margaret Ritchie, cannot progress three pieces of proposed legislation work because the devolved government has not met since June 19.

Leader Mark Durkan has warned that if a meeting scheduled for this Thursday is cancelled his party will request that the Assembly – in its summer break – is re-called for an emergency sitting.

The Alliance Party has said people are "deluded" if they think government is working.

And UUP leader Sir Reg Empey told the News Letter that should there not be an Executive meeting this week then the administration would be facing "a major problem". He said there are issues that have deadlines and need signed-off now or a crisis will be looming.

Ministers have not been called to the Cabinet as the DUP and Sinn Fein are attempting to resolve a series of contentious issues, including the future of academic selection, transfer of policing and justice power, Irish language differences, the Maze stadium debacle and more.

Political observers say it is far too soon to start talking of a crisis. But with most of August expected to be lost to holiday time, September is increasingly looking like a make or break month in terms of assessing whether or not the government is actually able to function.

As First Minister Peter Robinson is due to go on holiday in two days time, there will be a focus on Stormont today and tomorrow to see if any Executive business is scheduled – even on non-contentious matters.

An Executive spokesman said: "The work of the Executive continues across all departments."

He added that the Executive could be called together at anytime "should the need arise" and just because there was no meeting did not mean government was not beavering away.

But others have spoken of "the big politics; the political process" taking over, and the focus being elsewhere.

The Executive is playing second fiddle until the DUP and Sinn Fein see if they can resolve their differences.

The SDLP's Alasdair McDonnell suggested the longer this state of affairs continued the more people would take the view that the current arrangement had failed.

He said Executive meetings have been "cancelled without explanation" and "meetings of ministerial advisors are now being cancelled on a routine basis".

"This is not good government nor is it good for government in terms of public confidence," he said.

The News Letter understands that OFMDFM is in behind the scenes contacts with business and economic leaders in the Province, but the SDLP said there was no sign of this publicly.

Dr McDonnell said: "The situation has reached such a level on intolerance that (SDLP Minister) Margaret Ritchie has been unable to table a number of urgent bills and has written letters to OFMDFM seeking assurances ministers will meet this week."

Alliance leader David Ford said: "When devolution returned, people were filled with hope. That hope has vanished and been replaced with the feeling that local people have been short changed.

"When a Programme for Government was published, it was the thinnest ever and left out many difficult issues.

"The Executive has sat on its hands while more than £1 billion pounds is wasted every year on the costs of segregation.

"We have seen no action on free personal care for older people, despite parties' manifesto promises.

"The DUP Environment Minister refused to create an independent Environmental Protection Agency and Sinn Féin Ministers failed to hold her to account, despite our petition.

"The great majority of legislation so far falls into three categories: social security legislation maintaining parity with Westminster; urgent matters such as Budget Bills that are given accelerated passage; and issues already being considered under Direct Rule, such as Libraries and Taxis.

"Almost the only issue of substance where the Executive initiated legislation was the Victims Commission, and look at the mess the DUP and Sinn Fein made of this, resulting in a delay of several weeks for an 'urgent' issue.

"Anyone who says that the Executive has delivered is deeply deluded."