Northern Ireland’s politicians have until 4pm on Thursday to reach agreement on a deal to restore devolved power-sharing government in the region, or face the prospect of Westminster restoring direct rule in the country.



The deadline – imposed by the Northern Ireland secretary, James Brokenshire – approaches as it appears there has been no agreement between the two principal parties in the negotiations, the Democratic Unionists and Sinn Féin.

Talks between the DUP, Sinn Féin and the three other main parties represented in the Northern Ireland assembly continued at Stormont Castle until 2am on Thursday morning and are due to resume shortly.

The main disagreement with the potential to block a coalition in the region remains the issue of the Irish language and other cultures.

Sinn Féin wants an Irish language act to exist as a standalone piece of legislation, meaning it would concern only the rights of Irish speakers and put the Gaelic language on an a par in law with English.

The DUP, fearing criticism from more hardline unionists, has argued for an all-encompassing culture act that would not only guarantee the rights of those who speak Irish but also Ulster Scots speakers, as well as incorporating the protection of Orange/Protestant culture into legislation.

John O’Dowd, the former Sinn Féin education minister in a previous power-sharing executive, called on the British and Irish governments “to inject energy into these talks, to inject leadership into talks, and ensure the outstanding issues are resolved in the timescale we have left to us”.

O’Dowd accused the DUP of not budging on demands for an Irish language act and other rights issues such as those related to gay people in Northern Ireland.

The DUP’s Edwin Poots said his party was still willing to create a power-sharing government on Thursday if Sinn Féin was more flexible in its demands.

The formal deadline for the talks to end is 4pm, however the Stormont assembly is due to meet at noon to elect a new speaker of the regional parliament.

Brokenshire said failure to strike a power-sharing deal on Thursday would have “profound and serious” implications.

He has several options if there is no deal, including reimposing direct rule and allowing London-based ministers to run devolved ministries in Belfast.

Alternatively, Brokenshire could call a fresh election to yet another new assembly. A final option would be to put the current assembly into “warm storage” and let local top civil servants run the devolved departments until late summer when a fresh round of talks could begin.

The £1bn-plus aid package Theresa May agreed to as the price for DUP Westminster support for a minority Conservative government is unaffected by the outcome of the talks.

The cash will be injected into the Northern Irish economy, with the DUP still able to influence its distribution as the party is part of a “coordinating committee” with the Tories set up as part of the Downing Street deal.

One of Northern Ireland’s largest trade unions meanwhile has criticised the DUP for siding with the Tories in the House of Commons to retain the cap on public sector pay.

The Northern Ireland Public Service Alliance, which represents 220,000 public sector workers, called the 10 DUP MPs support for the Conservatives in Wednesday’s Commons’ vote as a “disgrace”.

Alison Millar, the alliance’s general secretary, said an opportunity had been “missed by our political representatives who could have ended this austerity measure against the thousands of public sector workers who are shouldering the brunt of public sector cuts and seeking to continue implementing many of the vital public services which we all rely on”.

The DUP backing of the government against a Labour motion to lift the 1% public sector pay cap was part of the Ulster party’s agreement signed on Monday to prop up the Tories.