GERRY Adams has launched a blistering attack on Leo Varadkar, accusing the taoiseach of "reckless" behaviour.
The Sinn Féin leader claimed the Dublin government had been responsible for "malicious, shameful and untruthful" briefings on the status of the Stormont negotiations.
It was reported this week that the British and Irish governments believed Sinn Féin northern leader Michelle O'Neill was ready to compromise with the DUP but was overruled when the party's ard comhairle met in Dublin last weekend.
While senior British sources would not confirm The Irish Times reports, their Dublin counterparts were adamant that the negotiating team's proposals for restoring devolution had been blocked.
Sinn Féin dismissed the claims and Ms O'Neill insisted there was no deal to sell to the ard comhairle.
In a video issued yesterday, Mr Adams accused government sources of making "shameful and untruthful allegations" about the party's northern leader.
"I am very concerned on an issue as important as this that the government is using spin and anonymous briefings in the interest of its own narrow political agenda in this state with no real sense, no real concern about the necessary process in the north," he said.
Mr Adams also said Mr Varadkar needed to ensure that direct rule did not become a reality, claiming the Fine Gael leader was "not as focused as he should be".
"There is a very clear commitment in the St Andrews Agreement and in statements by the then taoiseach and British prime minister that there could be no return to direct rule," he said.
"The taoiseach, faced with this, is sleepwalking into a deepening crisis in Anglo-Irish relationships if he allows this to happen and that’s on top of the difficulties caused by Brexit."
Meanwhile, Secretary of State James Brokenshire has again urged the north's politicians to reach a deal.
On Wednesday he said the deadline for reaching an agreement to restore the executive was October 30.
In a written statement, Mr Brokenshire said his ultimate responsibility was to the people of Northern Ireland.
"The UK government will do what is necessary to provide the stability required to ensure communities in Northern Ireland are not disadvantaged by the continued absence of devolved government," he said.
He also noted that next year will be the 20th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.
"It behoves us all to do what we can to ensure that that historic date is not marked by an increasingly hands-on UK government, but instead by a functioning Northern Ireland executive – this remains my overriding priority."
