THE Prime Minister has urged Stormont’s leaders to make one final push to strike a deal to salvage powersharing in Northern Ireland.
After holding talks with the Democratic Unionists and Sinn Fein in Belfast, Theresa May insisted there was the basis of an agreement to end the 400-day political impasse and she expressed confidence a devolved executive would be “up and running very soon”.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar also held talks with politicians at Stormont, though notably he did not have a meeting with the DUP. Mr Varadkar said he hoped a deal could be achieved later this week.
Mrs May, who met all the main parties at Stormont House yesterday, said the discussions were “full and frank”.
She said: “The DUP and Sinn Fein have been working hard to close the remaining gaps. Some differences remain, but I think there is the basis of an agreement here and I have been urging the parties to make one final push for the people of Northern Ireland.”
Mr Varadkar said the differences were “not insurmountable”. He expressed hope that Stormont’s smaller parties – the Ulster Unionists, SDLP and Alliance – could be part of a new coalition executive.
“It is our strong view that an inclusive executive including as many parties as possible would be more sustainable and more beneficial for Northern Ireland as a whole,” he said.
Relations have been strained between the DUP and Mr Varadkar’s government over the Brexit process.
But Ireland’s deputy premier Simon Coveney urged people not to “read too much” into the fact the main Unionist party did not meet the Taoiseach at Stormont yesterday.
Northern Ireland has been without a functioning government since January 2017 and several rounds of talks to resolve the crisis have failed.
However, speculation has been growing that a deal between Sinn Fein and the DUP is imminent.
DUP leader Arlene Foster said the tone of the meeting with Mrs May was positive.
Mrs Foster said she shared public frustration the pace of progress had been slow.
“We have been engaged in three weeks of intensive talks with Sinn Fein, building on the talks that have been going on for some time,” she said.
“We recognise the frustration that is out there, but good progress has been made and we will continue to work to look for more progress.”
Sinn Fein President Mary Lou McDonald said: “We believe we are close to an agreement which, certainly, we can put to our grassroots and to the community as a whole.”
She conceded “we are not exactly there just yet”, but added: “There is nothing insurmountable if there is the political will to reach an agreement”.
The DUP/Sinn Fein-led coalition imploded last January in a row over a botched green energy scheme.
The rift subsequently widened to take in long-running disputes over culture, social issues and legacy.
The main sticking point preventing the restoration of an executive is the Irish language.
Sinn Fein wants a standalone piece of legislation to protect speakers – an Irish Language Act – but the DUP has long insisted it would only countenance new laws if they also incorporate other cultures, such as Ulster Scots.
There was speculation over the weekend that three pieces of legislation – an Irish Language Act, an Ulster Scots Act and a broader Culture Act – could be a means to satisfy both sides.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here