Deadline to restore Stormont is pushed back by at least six weeks as Michelle O’Neill questions Government’s intention to find a solution
Britain on Wednesday delayed fresh elections in Northern Ireland to buy more time for Protocol negotiations with Brussels to succeed.
The DUP is refusing to form a Northern Ireland Executive after elections in May over its opposition to the Protocol, while UK-EU talks over the Irish Sea border are making slow progress.
Chris Heaton-Harris, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, extended a deadline to restore Stormont by six weeks to December 8, with an option to push it back by another six weeks to January 19.
“This aims to create the time and space needed for talks between the UK Government and the European Commission to develop and for the Northern Ireland parties to work together to restore the devolved institutions as soon as possible,” Mr Heaton-Harris told the House of Commons.