'New demands' mean SF not serious about a deal - Dodds
Good Friday deadline fast approaching but no sign of breakthrough
The DUP has accused Sinn Fein of not being serious about wanting to reach a deal at Stormont.
Nigel Dodds said they had put new demands on the negotiating table including those for special status for a post-Brexit Northern Ireland.
He said: “It is Sinn Fein insisting on new demands being implemented - not about health, education or public services, but about narrow partisan issues which we don't think are in the best interest of the people of Northern Ireland.
“We are told this is about implementing previous agreements. But take Brexit. We have Sinn Fein now demanding special status for Northern Ireland.
“It is a ludicrous new demand which is clearly not in the best interest of Northern Ireland and is preventing the formation of government. That is one example.''
Good Friday is widely seen as the deadline for an agreement to form an executive
The Secretary of State has said he would make a call on the state of negotiations over the Easter weekend
Sinn Fein has called for another election if there is not a deal.
Earlier, Sinn Fein's leader in Northern Ireland Michelle O'Neill said another Stormont election should be called after Good Friday, the deadline for agreement between the parties.
Ms O'Neill said there was little prospect of agreement on the way forward amid faltering talks with the DUP and British Government.
Speaking following another day of negotiations - on the 19th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement - Ms O'Neill insisted Sinn Fein was “committed to trying to deal with the issues which are there''.
After Friday, Mr Brokenshire will have to consider legislating to pass a budget for public spending in Northern Ireland and could introduce direct rule by ministers from Great Britain.
Two of the main stumbling blocks are the contentious issues of Irish language protections and how to deal with the toxic legacy of Troubles killings.
The two main parties are taking part in discussions along with Stormont's other three main parties, the Ulster Unionists, SDLP and Alliance Party, and the UK and Irish governments.