Northern Ireland will hold elections on 2 March to choose a new Assembly following the collapse of the Stormont power-sharing executive.

The collapse came after Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness resigned as deputy first minister last Monday, following a row between his party and the Democratic Unionist Party over a green energy scheme.

The Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) was designed to encourage businesses to use green energy source, however subsidies were found to be overly generous and ineffective, with projections estimating an overspend of £490m.

Sinn Féin had until midday to nominate a replacement for Mr McGuinness, which they refused to do, meaning the Northern Ireland Assembly is no longer able to continue to govern.

It gave Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, James Brokenshire, authority to call a snap election after 5pm.

He confirmed in a statement shortly after the deadline that elections would be held on Thursday 2nd March and that the Assembly would be dissolved from the 26th January, with its last sitting day held on 25th.

"No-one should underestimate the challenge faced to the political institutions here in Northern Ireland and what is at stake,” he said in a statement.

"While it is inevitable that debate during an election period will be intense, I would strongly encourage the political parties to conduct this election with a view to the future of Northern Ireland and re-establishing a partnership government at the earliest opportunity after that poll. This is essential for the operation of devolved government. And this means that all must remain open to dialogue.”

He also confirmed the Government’s continued commitment to the Belfast Agreement and promised a further statement in Parliament on Tuesday.

"The Government continues to stand firmly behind its commitment to the Belfast Agreement and its successors, and our responsibilities to safeguard political stability here in Northern Ireland,” he said.

"We will continue to do all that we can to find a way forward and secure the continuation of devolved government.” </s> Talks to help form a new power-sharing executive in Northern Ireland look set to finish without agreement.

Yesterday (26 March), fresh discussions at Stormont Castle collapsed, meaning that the Northern Ireland Office will have to determine the way ahead.

With no deal in sight before the 4pm deadline, today's assembly session to appoint a first and deputy first minister is likely to be suspended.

The two biggest parties, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Sinn Féin, have blamed each other for the disagreements.

The latest round of negotiations followed a snap election on 2 March, which brought an end to Stormont's unionist majority where the DUP's lead over Sinn Féin was cut from 10 seats to one.

Under Northern Ireland's power-sharing agreement, the executive must be jointly run by unionists and nationalists, with the largest party being invited to put forward a candidate for first minister.

Sinn Féin said it would not share power with DUP leader Arlene Foster as first minister until the conclusion of a public inquiry into the Renewable Heat Incentive.

Over the weekend, the Stormont politicians could not find any common ground on crucial issues such as Irish language legislation or the legacy of the Troubles.

If an agreement isn't reached then fresh elections could be called or a period of direct rule from Westminster could also be imposed.

Secretary of State James Brokenshire said: "Three weeks ago the people of Northern Ireland voted overwhelmingly for effective, devolved, power-sharing government.

"Since then I have been working intensively with the political parties and with the Irish government to find a way forward, including putting forward a number of proposals

"I am determined to see a functioning executive in place at Stormont. I have spoken to the prime minister this afternoon and this remains the UK government's continuing priority.

"This is the necessary first step to addressing the issues of greatest public concern – health, education and other public services in Northern Ireland.

"Even at this stage I urge political parties to agree to work to form an executive and provide people here with the strong and stable devolved government that they want." </s> BELFAST, March 26 (Reuters) - Northern Ireland could be set for a fresh election or a return to direct British rule of the province after one of the two main parties negotiating to form a new government said on Sunday that talks had run their course without success.

The British province's nationalist and unionist parties have until Monday to form a new power-sharing government following snap elections this month or risk decision-making being taken back to London for the first time since 2007.

Sinn Fein, the province's largest nationalist party, said that no substantive progress had been made on any of the key issues responsible for the impasse and that it would not support nominations to form a new regional executive.

"This talks process has run its course. Sinn Fein will not be supporting nominations for speaker or the executive tomorrow," Sinn Fein's Northern Ireland leader Michelle O'Neill told reporters.

"Sinn Fein is still intent on honouring our mandate and agreements made. We want to see the institutions restored, but when we said there will be no return to the status quo, we meant it."

Sinn Fein had collapsed the previous government and surged to within one seat of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) at the March 2 election to deny pro-British unionist politicians a majority in the regional assembly for the first time since Ireland was partitioned in 1921.

Britain's Northern Ireland minister James Brokenshire responded by urging the parties "even at this stage" to agree to work to form an executive, a position backed by Ireland's foreign minister.

If there is no agreement by Monday's 1500 GMT deadline, Brokenshire will have to decide whether to call another election -- the third in less than a year -- or to legislate for a return to direct British rule of the province, something he has repeatedly said he is against.

Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny has raised the prospect that the parties could be given more time to form a new devolved administration, but Britain's government has not proposed an extension and Sinn Fein is against such a move.

The leader of the smaller nationalist SDLP party said it was clear that an agreement will not be reached in the time left and that Brokenshire should allow for the process to be reconvened. </s> Vote will take place on 2 March, James Brokenshire says, after deadline for deal passes, triggering collapse of power-sharing executive

Elections to a new Northern Ireland assembly will take place on 2 March, James Brokenshire has announced. The Northern Ireland secretary was forced to call the poll after 5pm on Monday when it became clear there would be no 11th-hour deal to bring the Democratic Unionist party and Sinn Féin together to save power sharing in the region.

Brokenshire was obliged by law to declare an election date after the deadline this evening, drawning a curtain over nearly a decade of cross-community coalitions between unionists and nationalists.



The present assembly will sit until 26 January, when it will be dissolved. The new election takes place just 10 months after the previous one, which resulted in a joint Sinn Féin-Democratic Unionist party government.

The devolved administration fell after a row over a bungled green energy scheme and the Democratic Unionist first minister’s refusal to temporarily stand down from her post.



Sinn Féin earlier on Monday refused to nominate a new deputy first minister in the Stormont parliament, thus triggering an election. The Democratic Unionists had once again put forward Arlene Foster as first minister.



But under the complex rules of power sharing in the province, a government could not survive if the main political representatives of one section of the community refused to participate in the administration.

Announcing the election, the Northern Ireland secretary said: “I am now obliged under relevant legislation to propose a date for the next Northern Ireland assembly election. The election seeks to have the views of the future of Northern Ireland and bring people back together again and assures those lines of communications remain open.”

Just before the collapse of the power-sharing coalition between Sinn Féin and the DUP, Theresa May telephoned Martin McGuinness and Arlene Foster to encourage them to reach a last-minute deal to save the devolved institutions. May told them that they needed to do so to strengthen Northern Ireland’s voice in the forthcoming Brexit negotiations with the EU.



A spokeswoman for the prime minister said: “She spoke to both Arlene Foster and Martin McGuinness to encourage them to use what time was left today to try to find a resolution to the situation in Northern Ireland, outlining the importance of finding a way forward – particularly in the context of wanting to make sure that Northern Ireland has a voice in the UK’s exit from the European Union as we approach the critical period before triggering article 50.”

SDLP backs British-Irish rule if Northern Ireland devolution fails Read more

Her appeal failed to sway Sinn Féin, and the party declined to nominate a deputy first minister. Shortly afterwards, Foster appeared in Stormont’s Great Hall surrounded by DUP stalwarts including several of the party’s MPs at Westminster. She said: “Northern Ireland does not need an election; it needs stable government.”



The first minister said Sinn Féin had forced the election on Northern Ireland. “They have forced an election that risks Northern Ireland’s future and stability and which suits nobody but themselves,” she said.

If the DUP and Sinn Féin are once again returned as the two largest parties in the new assembly, the chances of them forming a fresh cross-community government appear at this stage to be remote. The atmosphere between the two parties remains toxic.



McGuinness, who is in ill health and being treated for a rare condition that attacks the heart and other vital organs, resigned as deputy first minister last Monday. He took the action in protest at Foster’s refusal to step aside while a public inquiry is held into the renewable heat incentive (RHI), an energy scheme whose costs have spiralled out of control.



It is unclear whether McGuinness will stand himself as a candidate in the forthcoming electoral contest. While Sinn Féin is keen for his name to be on the party’s slate in Foyle, it is understood that his family are concerned about his health and the impact a bruising election campaign could have on it.



If McGuinness does not stand again, one of the frontrunners to succeed him is Michelle O’Neill, the Sinn Féin health minister in the outgoing government. On Monday she highlighted the difficulties in piecing together a new power sharing arrangement with the DUP.



“Sinn Féin will only be part of institutions which work and deliver for all in the community,” she said. “There can be no return to the status quo. If something is broken, you stop and you fix it.”



The cross-community Alliance party said it wanted to keep the focus during the campaign on allegations of corruption and cronyism associated with the RHI scheme as well as other scandals. Naomi Long, the Alliance leader, said: “Our party isn’t to blame for the snap election called as a result of the DUP’s and Sinn Féin’s mess.

“But unlike some, we are not running scared of an election. We will be facing the people confident – and offering the electorate an alternative to the secrecy, corruption and cronyism that they are sick of at Stormont.” </s> Northern Ireland's political parties have been given an extended deadline to reach an agreement on a new power-sharing deal, as the UK government battles to avoid either calling a new election or reimposing direct rule from Westminster.



The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Sinn Féin have struggled to come to an agreement on forming a new executive, despite lengthy talks following this month's elections. Both sides blamed each other for the failure to reach a deal, which meant they missed Monday's deadline to form a new devolved administration.



Northern Ireland secretary James Brokenshire, speaking in Belfast, told reporters there is "no appetite for another election" and announced he would instead extend the deadline in the hope both parties could come to an agreement.

"I don't think there is any appetite for any further immediate snap election," he said. "The public have only recently gone to the polls and delivered what, I think, is a very clear message in seeing and wanting to see devolved government back on its feet again."



However, he admitted there remained significant gaps between the parties, "particularly over issues surrounding culture and identity". Civil servants will take control over many key decisions until a new administration can be formed.

DUP leader Arlene Foster criticised Sinn Féin's decision not to nominate a new deputy first minister, essentially bringing the talks to a close. "The decision of Sinn Féin not to nominate today and block the creation of a new executive is very regrettable and damaging to all the people we represent," she said.

In turn Sinn Féin's Northern Irish leader, Michelle O'Neill, said the DUP had "maintained their position in relation to blocking equality for citizens".

In the talks her party had pushed for greater support for the Irish language and a bill of rights, and also heavily criticised Brexit – which the DUP had supported.

A snap election was held earlier this month after Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness resigned as deputy first minister in protest at the DUP's handling of a botched fuel subsidy programme.

McGuinness did not stand for re-election and died last week, shortly after seeing his party surge in the polls and come within one seat of the DUP. The result meant that for the first time unionists do not have a majority in the Northern Ireland assembly.



Under the terms of devolution the largest party in the assembly is allowed to nominate the first minister, with the second-largest party allowed to nominate the deputy. Both unionists and republicans are required to be represented in any executive. </s> Sinn Féin was "not in agreement-finding mode" during talks to save Northern Ireland's political institutions, Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Arlene Foster has said.

Negotiations to form a new power-sharing executive after this month's snap election collapsed on Sunday, ahead of Monday's 16:00 deadline.

The two biggest parties, the DUP and Sinn Féin, blamed each other.

Sinn Féin said on Sunday that the talks had "come to the end of the road".

After the talks at Stormont Castle collapsed, the Northern Ireland Office must determine the way ahead.

With no deal in sight before the deadline, Monday's assembly session to appoint a first and deputy first minister was suspended.

DUP leader Arlene Foster said she doubted whether Sinn Féin had been serious about reaching agreement during the three-week talks process.

"These talks have failed because there wasn't a recognition of everyone's mandates," the former first minister said.

"The government of Northern Ireland is not a game - it is very serious.

"The decision of Sinn Féin not to nominate today and block the creation of a new executive is very regrettable and damaging to all the people we represent."

It was "simply the worst" talks process ever, the Ulster Unionists' chief negotiator said.

And there's not a lot of people rushing to contradict him.

Blame will be thrown in different directions.

Read more: Stormont in limbo after "worst" talks... but what next?

The deadlock came after an election on 2 March, which brought an end to Stormont's unionist majority - the DUP's lead over Sinn Féin was cut from 10 seats to one.

Under Northern Ireland's power-sharing agreement, the executive must be jointly run by unionists and nationalists, with the largest party being invited to put forward a candidate for first minister.

Sinn Féin's Martin McGuiness quit as deputy first minister in January in protest against the DUP's handling of a botched green energy scheme.

The party said it would not share power with Mrs Foster as first minister until the conclusion of a public inquiry into the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme.

Mr McGuinness, who had been suffering from a rare heart condition, died last week at the age of 66.

Sinn Féin's Conor Murphy said people were living in "a fool's paradise" if they thought they could "simply walk back into the executive".

"Martin McGuinness made it very clear the difficulties that were troubling the executive and the need to get back to a new basis of genuine power-sharing and a way of doing business under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement," Mr Murphy said.

"He very clearly said, in one of his last interviews, we will not be going back to the way things were," said Mr Murphy.

He added that outstanding issues, such as dealing with the legacy of the Troubles and legislation for the Irish language, had been agreed in the past and Sinn Féin wanted to see implementation of those deals.

Over the weekend, the Stormont politicians could not find any common ground on crucial issues.

Michelle O'Neill, Sinn Féin's leader at Stormont, said on Sunday that her party would not be nominating a candidate for the position of speaker or for the executive office.

Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire has since been in contact with Prime Minister Theresa May.

He faces a choice between fresh elections, direct rule from Westminster or playing for time in the hope some compromise can be found.

Ulster Unionist Party MP Tom Elliott said the government would have "to take the lead" on Monday.

Mr Brokenshire may try to buy some time by allowing the parties to reach an agreement over the assembly's Easter break, Mr Elliot added.

SDLP leader Colum Eastwood has called on Mr Brokenshire to "create space for all parties to refresh their outlook on the challenges we face".

The People Before Profit MLA Gerry Carroll said MLAs' salaries should be cut if Stormont is mothballed. </s> Arlene Foster, the first minister in Northern Ireland’s recently dissolved power-sharing government, has accused Sinn Féin of not wanting to secure a deal to restore a regional administration in Belfast.

The Democratic Unionist party (DUP) leader said that during weekend negotiations Sinn Féin had behaved “as if they were the only participants whose mandate mattered”.

As the clock ticked towards a 4pm Monday deadline on the Northern Ireland parties making an agreement to re-establish devolution, there appeared little likelihood that a deal was possible in the short term.

The focus now shifts to the Northern Ireland secretary, James Brokenshire, who has to decide whether to hold a snap second assembly election or impose direct rule from London by which British ministers would run devolved government departments.

Sinn Féin announced on Sunday it would not be nominating its leader in the Stormont assembly, Michelle O’Neill, as deputy first minister.

The party accused the DUP of not being serious about issues such as an Irish-language act and the establishment of mechanisms to deal with unsolved crimes of the Troubles.

Foster sought to lay the blame for the deadlock at Sinn Féin’s door. “Negotiations will only ever be successful when parties are prepared to be flexible in order to secure outcomes. To date, there was little to suggest that Sinn Féin want to secure agreement,” she said.

“The DUP stands ready to continue to discuss how we can secure new arrangements for Northern Ireland.”

Gerry Adams continued to blame the DUP – Sinn Féin’s key partner in the past decade of power-sharing government – for the failure to strike a deal.

“The DUP’s approach thus far has been to engage in a minimalist way on all of the key issues, including legacy issues – an Irish-language act, a bill of rights and marriage equality,” the Sinn Féin president said.

“They have been reinforced in this by the British government’s stance. This is unacceptable and a matter of grave concern.”

There were suggestions from some sources in Belfast that Brokenshire might use the Easter parliamentary break at Westminster to give the parties more space for discussions before he has to either call an election or impose some form of direct rule.



The DUP MP Jeffrey Donaldson said it was important that the issue was resolved swiftly, given the government’s plan to start the Brexit process by triggering article 50 on Wednesday.

“If we don’t have a government in Northern Ireland then we won’t have that voice feeding into the UK negotiating position,’ he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. “We will do our best as a party of Westminster to ensure that the interests of Northern Ireland are reflected, but that’s not a substitute for having a stable government.”

Donaldson said the problem appeared to be with issues connected to areas such as the Irish language, rather than Sinn Féin concerns over Foster’s connection to a costly botched green energy scheme, which triggered the breakup of the last administration.

“This is my understanding, that Sinn Féin has not, in the discussions we have had in the last week or so, raised the issue of Arlene Foster’s position,” Donaldson said,



The late Martin McGuinness’s last public political act was to resign as deputy first minister in January. He did so in protest at Foster’s refusal to stand aside temporarily from her post while a public inquiry was held into the energy scheme.



The renewal heating initiative, which the DUP championed, ended up costing the public purse an estimated half a billion pounds.

Once McGuinness resigned over the controversy, under the rules of power-sharing the cross-community government in Belfast collapsed, prompting elections to a new assembly, which it appears were unlikely at this stage to elect a new regional government.

The leader of the cross-community Alliance party, Naomi Long, said a second election within weeks would be a “vanity project” and extremely divisive. Alliance is one of the centrist parties that could hold the balance of power between unionists and nationalists in the Stormont parliament if a deal was secured to form a new government. </s> Arlene Foster's Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is expected to maintain its status as the largest party in Stormont as voters in Northern Ireland go to the polls on Thursday (2 March).

The unionists secured more than 29% of the vote at the assembly election in 2016, with republican party Sinn Fein winning 24% of the vote.

A LucidTalk poll, of more than 1,500 respondents between 24 and 26 February, estimated the DUP to be on 26.3% (-2.9%) and Sinn Fein to be on 25.3% (+1.3%). Polls opened at 9am GMT and will close at 10pm GMT.

The number of seats up for grabs in the Northern Irish Assembly has been reduced from 108 to 90, with the number of MLAs being determined by the single transferable vote system, a form of proportional representation.

The DUP won 38 seats in 2016, against Sinn Fein's 28, but the Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire was forced to dissolve the assembly and trigger a snap election after former deputy first minister, Martin McGuinness, resigned.

The top Sinn Fein politician made the move in protest over the botched Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme, which could cost taxpayers £490m ($602m) over the next 20 years.

"This election is about the future of Northern Ireland and its political institutions," the senior Conservative told MPs.

"Not just the Assembly but all of the arrangements that have been put in place to reflect relationships throughout these islands.

"That is why it will be vital for the campaign to be conducted respectfully and in ways that do not simply exacerbate tensions and division.

"Once the campaign is over we need to be in a position to re-establish strong and stable devolved government in Northern Ireland."

The parties will have three weeks to agree on a power-sharing government under the terms of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. If a deal is not brokered, the UK government in Westminster could directly rule the province. </s> Northern Ireland will hold snap elections on March 2 in a bid to resolve its worst political crisis in years after the power-sharing executive collapsed on Monday.

Britain's Northern Ireland Secretary, James Brokenshire announced the province's assembly would dissolve on January 26 and urged its feuding parties to mend fences and keep devolved government going in Belfast.

The elections were triggered as a Monday deadline passed for Catholic socialists Sinn Fein to nominate a new deputy first minister to the executive to replace Martin McGuinness.

"No one should underestimate the challenge faced to the political institutions here in Northern Ireland and what is at stake," Brokenshire said in Belfast.

"I would strongly encourage the political parties to conduct this election with a view to the future of Northern Ireland and re-establishing a partnership government at the earliest opportunity."

If, after the elections, the largest Protestant British Unionist and Catholic Irish nationalist parties cannot agree to form a new executive, the province could end up being governed from London.

McGuinness resigned in protest over a botched green heating scheme, following weeks of tensions with the Protestant, conservative Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).

The scheme was instigated by First Minister Arlene Foster, leader of the DUP, when she was economy minister.

She repeatedly refused to step aside temporarily to allow an investigation into a scheme which could cost Northern Ireland taxpayers up to £490 million ($590 million, 560 million euros).

Foster said Monday that with the challenges of Brexit, a new US president and the volatile global economy, Northern Ireland needed stable government more than ever.

"NI does not need nor does its people want an election," she said.

Sinn Fein "have forced an election that risks Northern Ireland's future and its stability, and suits nobody apart from themselves."

Sinn Fein warned they would not return to the executive without the DUP shifting ground.

"Today we have called time on the arrogance of the DUP... because we could no longer accept how these institutions were being treated with contempt," assembly member Conor Murphy, backed by his colleagues, told reporters.

"There will be no return to these institutions... unless there is fundamental change to the approach of the DUP and how they do power-sharing."

Northern Ireland's power-sharing executive and assembly were formed under the 1998 Belfast Agreement that effectively ended three decades of political violence in Northern Ireland.

The sectarian voting patterns that have always characterised elections in the province's deeply divided society could remain intact in the next vote, bringing little prospect of an end to the political stalemate.

If the two biggest parties are returned as expected but the deadlock remains, then a second election could be called if there is failure to form an executive within three weeks of the vote.

The other option would be that Northern Ireland reverts to being governed from London.

The last period of direct rule ended in 2007.

In last year's Brexit referendum, 56 percent of Northern Ireland voters favoured staying in the European Union compared to the UK-wide result of 52 percent choosing to leave.

The DUP was the only one of Northern Ireland's main four political parties that called for the UK to leave the bloc.

British Prime Minister Theresa May has said she plans to launch the EU exit procedure by the end of March.

Brokenshire insisted that the snap elections would not have an impact on the timing of Britain launching the Article 50 departure process.

May spoke to Foster and McGuinness on Monday to stress the importance of finding a way forward, particularly to make sure Northern Ireland has a voice in the Article 50 process, the prime minister's spokeswoman said.
The deadline for the Government formation in Northern Ireland has expired following the refusal of the Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Féin to enter a power sharing agreement with each other, with both parties blaming each other for the impasse.