Stormont: Main parties in talks to restore devolution

Northern Ireland has been without a power-sharing government for a year, after a coalition led by the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Sinn Féin collapsed.

Discussions began in January in a bid to break the impasse at Stormont and restore the power-sharing executive.

Northern Ireland’s five main parties will be involved in this set of talks.

The Secretary of State Karen Bradley is due to update the House of Commons on progress later this week.

Speaking ahead of Monday’s talks, SDLP leader Colum Eastwood challenged the British and Irish governments to “wake up to the political reality”.

“If both governments continue to take a hands-off approach with this process, the DUP and Sinn Féin will carry on threatening to write the obituary of the Good Friday Agreement,” he said.

“They are not bystanders in our politics. It is the authority and the balance provided by the two governments, which ultimately underpins the politics of Northern Ireland.”

On Sunday, the outgoing Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams said he believed a deal could be reached to restore Stormont.

In an interview with the BBC’s Andrew Marr, he said: “I’ve every confidence in Michelle O’Neill (Sinn Féin Stormont leader) in terms of her ability to make friends with the unionists and to go forward on the basis of equality.”

The Sinn Féin leader said some unionists held “very hard positions”, but others lived in the “real world”.

“They know they have to make friends with their neighbours and would have to go on. It is not about us any more, it is about the next generation.”

Last week, Northern Ireland Secretary Karen Bradley was questioned by MPs about progress in the Stormont talks. She appeared before the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee at Westminster on Wednesday.

She provided an update on the ongoing negotiations at Stormont.

The head of the civil service in Northern Ireland, David Sterling, told MPs there needs to be clarity about a budget by 8 February.