Northern Ireland Secretary grants more time for power-sharing talks

The Northern Ireland Secretary has said there is just a "short window of opportunity" that exists to "resolve outstanding issues and for an executive to be formed".

James Brokenshire was speaking as the deadline to form a new Stormont administration passed at 4pm Monday, following last month's snap elections.

Sinn Fein pulled out of negotiations on Sunday after announcing it would not nominate a new deputy first minister.

It is not possible to form an executive without appointing both a first and deputy first minister.

Mr Brokenshire said it had become clear that "there remain significant gaps between the parties over issues surrounding culture and identity".

He said the UK Government had tried to help "bridge these gaps" and "help the parties move things forward" but "agreement at this stage has not proved possible".

Mr Brokenshire warned that Northern Ireland was "rapidly approaching the point at which "(they) will not have an agreed Budget", a state which was "not sustainable" and "will have consequences for public services".

The Northern Ireland Secretary has the option to call new elections, as required by legislation, or reintroduce direct rule from Westminster - which would require a law change.

But he seemed unwilling to do either of these, saying he did not think there was "any appetite for an immediate snap election" and that there "remains an overwhelming desire among parties and the public for strong and stable devolved government".

Sky News Ireland Correspondent David Blevins said: "It's clear the Northern Ireland Secretary is not going to call another snap election in a hurry - he recognises that the people of Northern Ireland have no appetite to return to the polls so quickly and he doesn't expect the outcome would be any different to the last election.

"He's also not indicating any intention to go to the House of Commons to table emergency legislation to suspend devolution and restore direct rule from Westminster."

Blevins said the fact that this is happening as the Parliament in Westminster goes into Easter recess may "create the space necessary for (Mr Brokenshire) to encourage the political parties here to come back to the negotiating table and to overcome those obstacles".

He added that "considerable progress" seemed to have been made aside from the issues of culture and identity and there were hopes that further negotiation could take "perhaps a month at most".

The power-sharing executive collapsed in January after a row over a botched green energy scheme.

The then deputy first minister Martin McGuinness resigned in protest over the Democratic Unionists' handling of the scheme.

But on Sunday, Sinn Fein said the talks had "come to the end of the road".

The party has said it will not share power with Mrs Foster as first minister until the public inquiry into the green energy scheme finishes.

DUP leader Arlene Foster, the former first minister, said earlier that she did not believe another election would solve anything, and she was disappointed in Sinn Fein's attitude.

"These talks did not fail because of a lack of time," she said.

"These talks failed because there wasn't a recognition of everyone's mandates and there wasn't a spirit of compromise to get back into the executive."

She said: "The government of Northern Ireland is not a game.

"It is actually very serious and the fact that we do not have an executive being formed today is very regrettable."

Sinn Fein leader Michelle O'Neill blamed the DUP, saying: "We are standing firm - previous agreements need to be implemented.

"We came at the negotiations with the right attitude, wanting to make the institutions work, wanting to deliver for all citizens.

"Unfortunately, the DUP maintained their position in relation to blocking equality, delivery of equality for citizens, that was the problem."