Northern Ireland Secretary to extend deadline to restore Stormont before election to 8 February

The deadline is to be extended to 8 February. Credit: UTV

The Northern Ireland Secretary of State is to extend the deadline to restore Stormont before calling an election by just over two weeks.

UTV understands Chris Heaton-Harris believes putting the deadline back to 8 February will give enough time to resolve the issues preventing the DUP re-entering power sharing.

The party has boycotted the Assembly since February 2022 in protest over post-brexit trade rules.

Speaking on Monday, DUP Leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said no agreement has been reached in talks with the Government, saying progress had been made but gaps remained.

Chris Heaton Harris said: “Tomorrow (Wednesday) I will be introducing the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation) Bill to allow for the reformation of Stormont. "The Bill only has a single clause: to extend the period of time Stormont can legitimately come back until the 8 February. “I am committed to restoring devolution and significant progress has been made towards that objective. I believe that this Bill, with the constrained timescales, will be sufficient.”

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