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Robinson seeking fresh talks to resolve Stormont crisis

First Minister Peter Robinson will seek to stall the start of assembly and push for a fresh round of talks
First Minister Peter Robinson will seek to stall the start of assembly and push for a fresh round of talks First Minister Peter Robinson will seek to stall the start of assembly and push for a fresh round of talks

DUP leader Peter Robinson used his first public appearance since revelations about Provisional IRA links to the murder of Kevin McGuigan to call for a fresh round of talks at Stormont.

The first minister will travel to London today to meet British Prime Minister David Cameron where he is expected to call for Sinn Féin's exclusion from the devolved government, alongside intensive negotiations about the institutions' future.

The Stormont executive was plunged into crisis almost a fortnight ago after the PSNI blamed members of the IRA for killing Kevin McGuigan in Belfast's Short Strand on August 12.

Despite Chief Constable George Hamilton's assurances about the republican movement's commitment to peace, the revelation about the IRA's continued existence has caused a political storm on both sides of the border.

At the weekend Mike Nesbitt's call for the Ulster Unionists to leave the executive was endorsed by his party's ruling council. Regional Development Minister Danny Kennedy is today expected to tender his resignation.

Secretary of State Theresa Villiers will meanwhile meet the Republic's Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan to discuss the ongoing crisis.

Mr Robinson last night indicated that he hopes to keep the devolved institutions alive, though only after a new conditions for government have been agreed. It is understood he will ask Mr Cameron to extend the assembly's summer recess, while keeping the executive in place – at least in part.

It remains unclear whether the UUP will be invited to the fresh negotiations or even if Mt Nesbitt's party will chose to take part.

"We now have to deal with the relationship with paramilitary organisations and membership of the executive," Mr Robinson said last night in his first interview since returning from holiday.

"I believe we need a proper intensive talks process to see if those issues can be resolved because if they are not resolved there isn't a firm basis for us to proceed with government."

Earlier in a platform piece for the Belfast Telegraph, the first minister repeated Nigel Dodds's assertion that it "will not be business as usual" at Stormont.

He said that before the revelations surrounding Mr McGuigan's murder, the institutions "faced major problems" that if unresolved would have collapsed the assembly.

"The events of the last few weeks have multiplied both the gravity of the situation and the challenge to politicians," Mr Robinson said.

He accused the Ulster Unionists of "political expediency" and said leaving the executive would only ever be a last resort.

The first minister said any assessment of who murdered Kevin McGuigan would be taken "on an evidential basis" and that he would look to the chief constable and PSNI to "provide the facts upon which we base our judgement".

Mr Nesbitt criticised his DUP counterpart for the delay in commenting on the chief constable's remarks about the IRA.

"Does he (Mr Robinsion) think the people of Northern Ireland have such short memories that they do not recall that when the DUP flip-flopped on their 'Never, Never, Never, Never' stance regarding sharing power with Sinn Féin?" he said.

"The Ulster Unionist Party will put country ahead of selfish party interests and do what’s right for Northern Ireland."

Sinn Féin's Conor Murphy said his party would not be deflected in its opposition to austerity by "the electoral battle currently raging between the unionist parties".

"Sinn Féin has an electoral mandate to deliver real change across Ireland," he said.

"That mandate will not be wished away by our political opponents who are cynically using the appalling murders of Jock Davison and Kevin McGuigan by armed criminals to create a political crisis fuelled by electoral considerations north and south."