THE head of a body representing the north's voluntary sector has called on Secretary of State Karen Bradley to take the necessary steps to restore decision-making in Northern Ireland.
Seamus McAleavey, chief executive of the Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action (Nicva), warned that the current "hands off" approach is failing and said the situation cannot continue after more than 500 days of no leadership from Stormont.
“The challenges we are facing as a society cannot be dealt with by a hands-off, ‘do nothing’ approach that relies on short-term fixes to long-term issues," he said.
“It is Nicva’s belief that only a functioning government with decision-making ministers can bring an end to the deadlock. While it continues, we are storing up hundreds of unmade decisions and ever greater problems that will be harder to deal with the longer they go untackled."
Mr McAleavey said there are a variety of pressing issues facing Northern Ireland.
“Major decisions about Brexit, the future of our health and education systems, and growing pressures on our public finances all urgently need decisions and direction by a functioning government.
“Future generations will not thank us for ducking these issues. The Secretary of State needs to act, today, to restore decision making in Northern Ireland."
NICVA said it is currently surveying the 1,100 voluntary and community organisations its represents to find out how the absence of a government is affecting them and the people they work with.
Meanwhile, SDLP leader Colum Eastwood last night said the fact the length of time people had been left without a government is "a truly sorry indictment of our politics here".
“A lot has been said about where the blame lies for our ongoing impasse. The focus must now lie in finding a solution," he said.
“The SDLP have been consistent in calling on the two governments to step up and step in. As co-guarantors of the Good Friday Agreement it is their duty to take the hard issues of the table by allowing Westminster to legislate for marriage equality and language issues, so all parties can get back to work.
“With Brexit our politics has now reached a defining moment. We cannot allow a hard Brexit to be thrust upon our people without a functioning assembly to mitigate its devastating impacts.”
