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Differences between the political parties in Northern Ireland are marginal, a senior Democratic Unionist said.<\/p>\nDifferences between the political parties in Northern Ireland are marginal, a senior Democratic Unionist said.<\/p>\n
Edwin Poots claimed there was good spirit and a desire to restore the devolved Assembly at Stormont straight away.<\/p>\n
The power-sharing institutions have been in deep freeze for nearly three years following a fallout between former coalition partners Sinn F\u00e9in and the DUP over a flawed renewable heat scheme.<\/p>\n
Mr Poots said: \u201cThe differences are on the margins, the key issues for us are health \u2013 number one priority.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thousands of nurses took unprecedented strike action over pay on Wednesday and a special health summit of political leaders is due to take place on Thursday.<\/p>\n
A round table meeting involving all five of the main Stormont parties took place on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Endless rounds of negotiations have failed to produce a breakthrough, with issues such as the place of the Irish language in society in dispute.<\/p>\n
The DUP and Sinn F\u00e9in suffered reverses in the general election and the cross-community Alliance Party built on gains of recent years.<\/p>\n
They face an Assembly poll in the new year with an increasingly disillusioned public if talks led by the British and Irish governments fail.<\/p>\n
Mr Poots said considerable work remained to be done but he was seeking a \u201cfair and balanced\u201d deal.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cWe will do our utmost to get a sensible deal, a good deal for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Poots said it was for Stormont to deal with the nurses\u2019 pay issue.<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cGoodwill exists, which is critically important to actually getting a deal, let us build on that goodwill that exists.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe public want us to get back to business, we need to ensure a fair and balanced deal, a one-sided deal will not work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ulster Unionist leader Steve Aiken said the NHS was an emergency case which should be addressed immediately.<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cI cannot see us getting a deal until the new year if there is going to be a deal.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do need to get a deal and an agreement and move on.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sinn F\u00e9in vice-president Michelle O\u2019Neill said the British Government could intervene to resolve the health crisis.<\/p>\n
\u201cA solution is available which would end the dispute, but the British Secretary of State is holding back on this in a cynical attempt to pressurize the political parties.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe attempt to exploit the suffering of patients as political leverage in the talks is disgraceful.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said Northern Ireland Secretary Julian Smith and the Conservative Government was responsible for the crisis in health services due to a decade of Tory austerity which had torn up the health service\u2019s finances.<\/p>\n