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Northern Ireland\u2019s political leaders have vowed to strive for a deal to restore power-sharing as a fresh talks process began at Stormont.<\/p>\nNorthern Ireland\u2019s political leaders have vowed to strive for a deal to restore power-sharing as a fresh talks process began at Stormont.<\/p>\n
The leaders of the five main parties acknowledged mounting public impatience and anger at a stalemate that has left the region without a functioning devolved government for over two years.<\/p>\n
They held a short round-table meeting at Stormont House this afternoon for the first exchanges of a new talks process initiated by the UK and Irish governments.<\/p>\n
During the meeting, Northern Ireland Secretary Karen Bradley and T\u00e1naiste Simon Coveney outlined the format for the latest bid to resolve the impasse.<\/p>\n
The process will involve agenda-setting and stock-taking meetings between the five leaders and two governments at least once a week, with five working groups set up to focus on the detail of key disputes at the heart of the deadlock.<\/p>\n
The tone of today’s preliminary meeting was understood to be more harmonious than the last gathering of the party leaders in the winter.<\/p>\n
Afterwards, DUP leader Arlene Foster said she would enter the talks with a \u201cgood heart\u201d and with determination to find a solution.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want devolution to work because we are a devolutionist party,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom our part I was very clear with all the other parties that we will not be found wanting in getting a deal to get Stormont up and running again.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are entering this talks process to find a way forward. It has to, of course, be a balanced way forward and one that everyone in Northern Ireland is comfortable with, whether they are unionist, nationalist or indeed other \u2013 and I think that\u2019s very important.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are not looking at the prospect of failure \u2013 we want this to work.\u201d<\/p>\n
The last DUP\/Sinn F\u00e9in-led power-sharing coalition imploded in January 2017 when the late Martin McGuinness quit as Sinn F\u00e9in deputy first minister amid a row about a botched green energy scheme.<\/p>\n
The fallout over the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) was soon overtaken by disputes over the Irish language, the region\u2019s ban on same-sex marriage and the toxic legacy of the Troubles.<\/p>\n
Six previous talks initiatives to restore devolution have failed to find consensus.<\/p>\n
Sinn F\u00e9in president Mary Lou McDonald said her party was ready to \u201cdo the business\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe current stalemate is not acceptable and not sustainable, there are outstanding issues that need to be resolved, and we believe they can be resolved,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf everybody is prepared to show leadership, if everybody is prepared to respect the clear public desire for equality and people\u2019s rights to be recognized and delivered on, we can find our way back to power-sharing.\u201d<\/p>\n
After the meeting, Mrs Bradley said: \u201cNone of us should be under any illusions about this.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are some very significant challenges and this is not going to be easy, and therefore I\u2019d ask that we all give the parties time and space to allow them to address these difficult issues and to come to the right conclusion for the people of Northern Ireland, which is the restoration of devolution.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said she would not be making any further public comment on the talks during the process.<\/p>\n
Mr Coveney described the first meeting as constructive and positive.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll of the parties and their political leaders were very constructive for the initial meeting today, but clearly we\u2019ve a lot of work to do,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody recognizes that there is work to do to accommodate each other but certainly I think today was as constructive and positive a start as we could have hoped for.\u201d<\/p>\n
Doubts have been raised whether parties will be prepared to compromise during the European election campaign.<\/p>\n
Mr Coveney insisted progress could be made ahead of the election, although he acknowledged a final resolution may not emerge until after the poll.<\/p>\n
Efforts to resurrect the devolved institutions have been injected with fresh urgency following the dissident republican murder of journalist Lyra McKee in Derry last month.<\/p>\n
Politicians are facing mounting public pressure to find consensus amid concerns that violent extremists are exploiting the power vacuum.<\/p>\n
Last week\u2019s local council elections recorded a surge in support for middle ground parties such as Alliance, with many interpreting the result as a sign of growing disaffection at the polarized Stormont stand-off.<\/p>\n
While the DUP and Sinn F\u00e9in failed to make the gains at council level that some predicted, they remain the region\u2019s two pre-eminent political forces and the fate of the Stormont talks is still in their hands.<\/p>\n
The last talks process broke down in acrimony last February with claim and counter-claim on what had been agreed.<\/p>\n
Sinn F\u00e9in said DUP leader Arlene Foster had agreed a draft deal to re-enter devolved government that included concessions on the Irish language \u2013 a claim Mrs Foster denied.<\/p>\n
Many of the disputes are linked to a controversial voting mechanism that enables blocs of unionists and nationalists to veto measures which command overall majority support in the Assembly.<\/p>\n
A number of the smaller parties are calling for changes to the contentious petition of concern, believing its reform could unlock several logjams at the heart of Stormont\u2019s impasse.<\/p>\n
With the UK Government reluctant to reintroduce direct rule from Westminster, Northern Ireland has operated in a political limbo for the last two years, with senior civil servants being left to run public services.<\/p>\n
The civil servants are seriously hamstrung, unable to make key policy decisions in the absence of elected ministers.<\/p>\n
As a consequence, numerous governmental decisions are in abeyance, with many major policy initiatives in cold storage.<\/p>\n