May and Varadkar head to North amid hopes of Stormont deal

LEO Varadkar and Theresa May are to make their way to the North today amid mounting speculation that a deal to restore the power-sharing government is imminent.

The Taoiseach and British Prime Minister will hold face-to-face talks, as well as meeting with Stormont’s main political parties in a bid to end the 13-month stalemate. A spokesman for Mr Varadkar said: ‘The Taoiseach and the Prime Minister will assess the state of play in the negotiations to restore the Northern Ireland Executive and Assembly.’

It was not clear last night if the two leaders would discuss the issue of Brexit, which has severely strained the relationship between the two countries, as well as between north and south.

Speaking on RTÉ’s This Week yesterday, the Taoiseach said he would hold the British to the agreement it reached with the EU in December, that would not see a hard border on this island.

Northern Ireland has been without a functioning government since January 2017 and several rounds of talks to resolve the crisis have failed.

However, speculation has been growing that a deal between Sinn Féin and the DUP is close. On Saturday, Sinn Féin’s Michelle O’Neill said talks were likely to draw to a close this week.

SDLP leader Colum Eastwood, however, warned that any deal to restore powersharing must end the cycle of political stand-off between Sinn Féin and the DUP. The coalition imploded last January amid a row over a botched green-energy scheme.

‘The real change necessary is an end to the cycle of two parties who have proved themselves very good at the art of political stand-off, but very bad at the responsibility of government,’ he said.

The main sticking point preventing the restoration of an Executive is the Irish language. Sinn Féin wants an Irish Language Act – but the DUP has long insisted it would only countenance new laws if they also incorporate other cultures, such as Ulster Scots.