Call for progress on powersharing

Church leaders have urged Northern Ireland’s politicians to strike a powersharing deal.

As a deadline looms for the DUP and Sinn Fein to break the deadlock at Stormont, the clerics issued an open letter to the five main parties pleading with them to go the extra mile to reach an agreement.

They warned that Northern Ireland’s input into Brexit negotiations was suffering. And they said that unless the current impasse is broken, the most vulnerable people, and the small voluntary and community groups that serve them, would be at risk.

“While we acknowledge the complexities involved in reaching an agreement, we want to express our continued concern that without an agreed budget and with no executive ministers in place, the most vulnerable are at greater risk, while crucial decisions on education, health and welfare are not being taken,” they wrote.

“Furthermore, with no Executive there has been comparatively little co-ordinated local input into the Brexit discussions.”