Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams has laid the blame for stalled power-sharing negotiations in Northern Ireland at the feet of the DUP.
According to the
Irish Times, Adams has said that he does believe that a deal will be struck to re-establish the power-sharing assembly in Stormont by the Monday deadline. “The DUP are showing no urgency about dealing with the equality and rights issues, which caused the collapse of the political institutions," he said. There is little prospect that they will do this before Monday."
If a deal cannot be struck, it is likely that Northern Ireland would face a period of direct rule from Westminster — something which Adams has said his party would not accept.
“There is clearly a responsibility on the Irish Government to ensure that doesn’t happen,” Mr. Adams said of the prospect of rule from London.
Sinn Féin narrowly last out on winning the most seats for the first time in the most recent Stormont elections, winning 27 seats compared to the DUP's 28. The alternative to direct rule from Westminster would be for Northern Secretary James Brokenshire to call another general election.
