The Northern Ireland secretary, James Brokenshire, has warned that the window is closing on a deal to restore power-sharing government in the region.
The secretary of state said he could be forced to legislate and introduce a budget for the region if the political parties represented in the Stormont assembly failed to reach a compromise aimed at bringing back devolution to Belfast.
Following a range of meetings with the parties on Monday, Brokenshire said: “The window of opportunity to restore devolution and to form an executive is closing rapidly as we move further into the autumn, and with pressures in public services already evident, the need for intervention is becoming increasingly clear.
“I don’t want to have to take this action, my intent is for politicians in Northern Ireland to form an executive. I’m not going to pretend that this is easy as clear differences remain but it does remain achievable.”
Meanwhile, Sinn Féin’s leader in the Northern Ireland assembly predicted power-sharing could be restored within days if the parties demonstrated the right attitude to the talks.
Michelle O’Neill said: “There is a short window in front of us where we need to find solutions and a way forward. We need a short, sharp and focused negotiation in the small timeframe we have ahead of us.”
Brokenshire had been attempting to gauge how far apart the two main parties – the Democratic Unionists and Sinn Féin – were in terms of reaching a new agreement that would restore the cross-community government in Belfast.
The DUP leader, Arlene Foster, warned on Monday that the secretary of state’s hand would be forced over imposing a budget if a deal was not sealed by October.
The former first minister of Northern Ireland said: “He has decisions to take around appropriation bills in October, so if there is no devolution by that stage … he will have to take action in the interests of the people of Northern Ireland and in the interests of good government as well.”
No regional budget has been set since the political crisis that led to devolution being put into deep freeze at the start of this year.
The power-sharing government was suspended following the late Martin McGuinness’s withdrawal from his post as deputy first minister of Northern Ireland.
McGuinness resigned after Foster refused to temporarily stand down as first minister during an inquiry into a controversial and costly renewable energy scheme that the DUP championed in government.
Under the rules of devolved power-sharing, if the leading representative of one section of the community resigns from office the entire administration falls. Since then there have been fruitless talks and several broken deadlines as the DUP and Sinn Féin failed to find an agreement before the summer.
Following Brokenshire’s meetings on Monday, Simon Coveney, Ireland’s foreign minister, will travel to Belfast on Tuesday to talk with local politicians.
Government sources, however, are not optimistic about the prospect of a fresh round of talks this autumn. Failure to restore devolved government in the region could ultimately lead to direct rule from London being reimposed.
However, Gerry Kelly, a Sinn Féin assembly member, warned that his party “will fight that tooth and nail” against any reimposition of direct rule.
During its talks with Brokenshire, the cross-community Alliance party said it intended to put forward the idea of an independent mediator from outside both the British and Irish governments.
Stephen Farry, Alliance’s deputy leader, said: “One thing we will say to the secretary of state today is to reconsider the idea of bringing in a mediator, and preferably an international mediator.
“Given that we are now reduced to Sinn Féin and the DUP not really talking to one another … we see scope for someone coming in who can work between them and overcome, not just their differences, but also the differences with the other parties too.”