The British government will make no further efforts to restore Stormont power-sharing until after May’s local elections in Northern Ireland, Sinn Féin has said.
Michelle O’Neill, the party’s vice-president, said she had been told by Karen Bradley, the Northern Ireland secretary, that Theresa May’s government is set to activate a five-month extension to her legal obligation to call a fresh Assembly election.
Ms Bradley and Ms O’Neill discussed the impasse by telephone yesterday.
Under legislation introduced last year, Ms Bradley is theoretically under a legal duty to call an election if devolved ministers are not in place by the end of March. The laws, which included measures to make it easier for civil servants to make decisions in the absence of ministers, incorporated an option