Opinion

Fresh approach needed to end talks stalemate

James Brokenshire has been described as a patient man. Other words have been used to describe his approach to the protracted impasse at Stormont, now in its eleventh month with no agreement on the horizon.

Whatever his strategy, it is clearly not working.

The DUP and Sinn Féin have been locked in talks, deadlines have been set and then ignored with no apparent pressure being applied.

Meanwhile, the civil servants are running what passes for government and the MLAs are continuing to be paid their full salaries.

It is a shambles which leaves a political vacuum at a time when we need a strong voice on Brexit and ministerial direction on the key problems affecting the health service and schools, not to mention decisions on projects on which hundreds of jobs depend.

Because the talks have been conducted under a cloak of secrecy - and the absence of leaks is one remarkable aspect of this lengthy process - it is difficult to assess what, if any, progress has been made or if the parties have shifted from their stated positions.

And while people understand that a lack of running commentary is helpful in terms of negotiation and hopefully agreement, after almost a year of stalemate the public is entitled to be given some information about what has been going on.

Mr Brokenshire is now preparing to impose a budget on Northern Ireland by the end of this month, a move he said stopped short of direct rule.

Irish foreign affairs minister Simon Coveney believes it is a `step in the direction of direct rule'.

We need to be careful that we are not drifting towards direct rule in all but name however the question is how long is the secretary of state going to allow the talks to wend on without a conclusion?

Mr Brokenshire is again talking about cutting salaries but there is no sense that he is about to take firm action.

Giving the main parties time and space to reach a deal has not worked which suggests a new approach is needed to inject some impetus into a stalled process.