Stormont assembly power restored

An order signed by Peter Hain restarted devolution at midnight but he says today's deadline for a power-sharing executive to be formed must be met. He said the assembly will be dissolved if it is not - however he will consider an alternative if the parties can agree on one.

Ian Paisleys DUP is the only party that wants to stall matters, it says it will enter government with Sinn Fein, but not until May.
The DUP's Jeffrey Donaldson said that his party agreeing to rule with Sinn Fein was an "historic decision. The Democratic Unionist Party has made a firm commitment to participate in a power-sharing government in May, That is absolutely clear and unequivocal - we felt there was a need for more time because there were outstanding issues that need to be resolved."

Reacting to the DUP's statement on Saturday, Sinn Fein accused the DUP of trying to "frustrate the will of the electorate".

Mr Hain insisted Stormont would be dissolved if Monday's deadline was not met - but said if parties could agree an alternative, he was open to that. The British and Irish governments say they will shut the assembly and stop the pay of its members if a power-sharing executive is not agreed on Monday. If devolution does not return, controversial water bills will also be posted to homes in the north of Ireland within days.

Chancellor Gordon Brown has promised an extra £1bn if devolution is back on Monday on top of £35bn promised by the government over four years. Speaking on Sunday, Mr Hain said: "Success tomorrow would be devolution, failure would be dissolution. I don't at the moment see any other way, I only see it our way. If there is another way if the parties have got their own way then they need to jointly agree it and come back to me pretty quickly, because otherwise the law kicks in and there's nothing I can do about it."

On Saturday, the DUP said it was willing to bridge the gap between now and May with preparatory work, "including departmental pre-briefings and finalising a programme for government" It said it wanted the extra time "to raise the level of confidence in the community and instil a positive attitude towards devolution and local control".

If nominations take place the DUP is expected to put forward party leader Ian Paisley as first minister, with Sinn Fein choosing their chief negotiator Martin McGuinness as his deputy.

If a power-sharing executive is formed, it will have four DUP ministers, three Sinn Fein, two UUP and one SDLP.

The the north of Ireland Assembly has been suspended since October 2002, amid allegations of an PIRA spy ring at Stormont. The allegations seemed to centre around Former senior Sinn Fein member and later self confessed British double agent Denis Donaldson. Mr Donaldson was expelled from Sinn Fein in December 2005 after admitting he was a paid British spy for 20 years. He was murdered soon after whilst living in a remote County Donegal cottage in mysterious circumstances, no one has been arrested and it seems it was the perfect murder. The PIRA itself issued a statement saying it had "no involvement whatsoever" in Mr Donaldson's death. It came hours before a planned visit to the north of Ireland by Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern to unveil their blueprint for reviving the assembly at Stormont. Mr Donaldson had been Sinn Fein's head of administration at Stormont before his 2002 arrest over alleged spying led to its collapse.

The subesquent court case collapsed. Direct rule has been in place since that date.

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Stormont assembly power restored