Northern Ireland

First roundtable of revived talks scheduled for today

Julian Smith will jointly chair a roundtable meeting. Picture by Mark Marlow
Julian Smith will jointly chair a roundtable meeting. Picture by Mark Marlow Julian Smith will jointly chair a roundtable meeting. Picture by Mark Marlow

STORMONT'S parties will today hold their first roundtable meeting since fresh negotiations began on Monday.

The all-party discussions are expected to be chaired by Secretary of State Julian Smith and Tánaiste Simon Coveney, who arrived in Belfast on Monday evening.

While few observers are expecting an early breakthrough in the latest round of talks, there have been positive signals from in recent weeks from the DUP and Sinn Féin about the prospect of securing a deal to restore devolution.

It will be three years next month since Martin McGuinness collapsed the power-sharing institutions when he resigned as first minister at the height of public outcry over the Renewable Heat Incentive scandal.

Stormont's two biggest parties saw a notable drop in their share of the vote in last week's Westminster election, while the SDLP, Alliance and the Ulster Unionists increased theirs.

The election outcome is thought to reflect growing public frustration with the lack of an assembly and executive.

The parties spent Monday and yesterday in bilaterals with each other and meeting Mr Smith and Mr Coveney separately.

After his meetings with the five parties, Mr Smith described the mood as "positive". He said the parties had heard the message from voters "loud and clear".

Simon Coveney said it was "time to get Stormont back up and running".

"It is far too long and I think we have seen the consequences of that in terms of the polarisation of politics across Northern Ireland, not just amongst political parties but also within communities," he said.