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15/01/2019
NI Parties Meet To Address Ongoing Political Impasse
Northern Ireland's political parties have met to discuss the ongoing political impasse, over two years since the institutions at Stormont collapsed.
Alliance leader Naomi Long called for the meeting on Monday 14 January, and reiterated her request for an independent chair to oversee the new talks process.
Following the break down of a potential deal aimed at restoring power-sharing last February, there has been little to no sign of re-establishing the Assembly or even a talks process, until yesterday's meeting.
"Two years of wasted time and opportunities is already more than NI can afford," the east Belfast MLA said in a post on Twitter.
Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald described the ongoing stasis as a "matter of great frustration to us" and a "disgrace".
"That is plainly because others have sought to deny our fundamental rights, basic rights to sections of our society, and that's an intolerable situation," she said.
In previous negotiation attempts, Sinn Fein's proposal of an Irish Language Act has risen to the fore as a key sticking point along with equal marriage rights for same-sex couples in Northern Ireland.
Speaking about restoring the institutions, Sinn Fein MP for south Down Chris Hazzard said: "The denial of rights has to end, there must be parity of esteem at the heart of the institutions. The British and Irish governments as co-guarantors of the Good Friday Agreement need to live up to their responsibilities."
(JG/CM)
Alliance leader Naomi Long called for the meeting on Monday 14 January, and reiterated her request for an independent chair to oversee the new talks process.
Following the break down of a potential deal aimed at restoring power-sharing last February, there has been little to no sign of re-establishing the Assembly or even a talks process, until yesterday's meeting.
"Two years of wasted time and opportunities is already more than NI can afford," the east Belfast MLA said in a post on Twitter.
Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald described the ongoing stasis as a "matter of great frustration to us" and a "disgrace".
"That is plainly because others have sought to deny our fundamental rights, basic rights to sections of our society, and that's an intolerable situation," she said.
In previous negotiation attempts, Sinn Fein's proposal of an Irish Language Act has risen to the fore as a key sticking point along with equal marriage rights for same-sex couples in Northern Ireland.
Speaking about restoring the institutions, Sinn Fein MP for south Down Chris Hazzard said: "The denial of rights has to end, there must be parity of esteem at the heart of the institutions. The British and Irish governments as co-guarantors of the Good Friday Agreement need to live up to their responsibilities."
(JG/CM)
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