British government extends Northern Ireland talks

British government extends Northern Ireland talks

 The British government on Monday decided to extend the 24-hour deadline for Northern Ireland's political parties to form a new executive body and prevent London from putting its annual budget for the first time in 10 years.

James Brockenshire, the British minister for Northern Ireland, said the United Kingdom's Democratic Unionist Party and the Irish National Sinn Fein Party had made progress in the talks on Tuesday and would continue talks on Tuesday.

"Given this, I think it is right to postpone the assessment on the possibility of introducing legislation to parliament this week to allow for the formation of an executive body," Brookshire said.

"The party will resume talks in the morning and I will reassess the situation tomorrow evening," he said, adding that the British government would consider "certain additional requests" submitted by both parties.

If Brockenshire had indicated earlier that if no agreement was reached by the end of Monday, Britain would approve the region's annual budget to ensure the funding of basic services.

The British government's budget will be a major step towards restoring London's direct rule over the region for the first time in 10 years, which could upset a critical political balance in the British territory.

The DUP and Sinn Fein shared power in the former government dissolved under a status system following a 1998 peace deal that ended 30 years of violence in the province.