THE SDLP has accused the DUP of "peddling to extremists" after it said it would boycott a civic dinner in Belfast to mark the centenary of the Easter Rising.
President Michael D Higgins withdrew from the April 8 event this week due to a lack of cross-community support.
A spokesman for the president said he had "no option but to withdraw as he does not want to become embroiled in matters of political controversy".
Ulster Unionist Party councillors also said they had decided not to attend the dinner.
SDLP councillor Nichola Mallon accused the DUP of squandering "a real opportunity for reconciliation".
"Faced with challenges from former flag protesters and the TUV, the party have buckled at the first opportunity they had to show leadership and mutual respect," she claimed.
"Their so-called Fresh Start has been exposed as nothing more than a phoney start."
She pointed out that her party has attended Remembrance Day ceremonies and will be attending the commemoration of the Battle of the Somme centenary this year.
The DUP, which has been critical of the Rising, has insisted it never agreed to attend the dinner and rejected claims of an all-party agreement to mark key centenaries.
