SECRETARY of State James Brokenshire was locked in talks with Sinn Féin and the DUP last night as the latest deadline for a devolution deal loomed.
Politicians have been given until the start of next week to reach agreement on the formation of a new executive or the British government will begin the process of setting a budget for the north.
Officials say that legislating for a budget must begin next week to ensure there is adequate time for it to pass through Westminster and release money to departments.
Mr Brokenshire and Irish foreign affairs minister Simon Covney were both at Stormont yesterday as negotiations continued.
Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams and his DUP counterpart Arlene Foster were also at the talks.
The north has been without an executive since January after Sinn Féin deputy first minister Martin McGuinness resigned in the wake of the RHI scandal.
Since then relations between the north’s two largest parties have been strained.
Previous deadlines to restore the Stormont institutions have been missed.
Republicans have insisted there can be no return to power sharing without a stand-alone Irish language act being agreed, but the DUP have dismissed the idea.
Sinn Féin has also spoken of the need for LGBT rights and a bill of rights.
Party president Gerry Adams said yesterday that agreement can be reached.
“Can we get that? Yes we can, but only if the DUP enters into the era of modern political democratic norms,” he said.
“We’re here to do a deal with the DUP, there’s no other reason for us engaging in these talks, we have to get a deal that’s based on the rights of citizens.
“This isn’t about making new agreements, this is about the implementation and delivery of an agreement which is already made,” he told RTÉ.
Alliance leader Naomi Long, giving interviews for the first time yesterday following a recent illness, said the talks lack structure and other political parties have had few opportunities to make an input.
"It has been reliant on Sinn Féin and the DUP taking time to engage themselves to try and resolve their differences,” she said.
"But it hasn't been a structured process.
“It hasn't been a process where others have been able to contribute to try to find ways through those difficulties," she told the BBC.
