Stormont crisis: Theresa Villiers tells parties they cannot be in talks 'until Christmas'

Theresa Villiers

Theresa Villiers was speaking at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester

Stephen Walker
BBC News NI Political Correspondent

Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers has warned the local political parties they must forge an agreement in the coming weeks.

She told BBC NI's Sunday Politics Programme that in the "history of negotiations deadlines are often crashed through".

However, she said that the parties "cannot be sat in talks until Christmas".

She added that "we just don't have that time".

Ms Villiers was speaking at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester which opened on Sunday.

On Friday in a BBC NI interview, Prime Minister David Cameron said that the talks to resolve the crisis at Stormont should be completed by the end of the month.

Mr Cameron said "under the rules of the institutions it gets increasingly difficult to have this process stalled and stuck".

Difficulties

He said "everyone wants the institutions to work and everyone knows they are not currently".

Ms Villiers admitted that the difficulties around finding agreement over welfare, the budget and paramilitary activity are very familiar.

In response to my question over whether she had a sense of déjà vu, she replied: "I have had that feeling on occasion in the last few weeks."

She also told the BBC that the resignation of DUP and UUP ministers had added to the "stress" of the situation.

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The story of Stormont's crisis

  • Stormont's political upheaval was sparked by allegations that Provisional IRA members were involved in the murder of Kevin McGuigan Sr

  • Row erupted after a senior Sinn Féin member was arrested as part of the inquiry into Mr McGuigan's death. He was later released without charge.

  • Northern Ireland First Minister Peter Robinson stepped aside; all but one of his Democratic Unionist Party ministers resigned

  • Finance Minister Arlene Foster is now acting first minister

Read more on how the crisis unfolded

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She repeated that if there was no local agreement over welfare, the government would intervene and take back welfare powers but she stressed this was a "last resort".

Ms Villiers warned that the impasse over welfare reform in Northern Ireland "cannot run indefinitely".

The secretary of state also rejected a suggestion that the establishment of a three-person panel to review paramilitary activity was an attempt to appease unionists.

She told the BBC "it was important to find answers to get more facts about the status of paramilitary organisations".

Ms Villiers is expected to be in Belfast on Monday and Tuesday to chair the Northern Ireland political talks. She will then return to Manchester to deliver her speech to party activists.

Sinn Féin's Conor Murphy said on Sunday that "the British and Irish governments need to live up to their responsibilities during the current negotiations".

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