Hain attempts to restore power-sharing

The Northern Ireland secretary has been holding talks in Belfast in an attempt to restore power-sharing.

Peter Hain met Sinn Fein leaders Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness on Monday as DUP leader Rev Ian Paisley considers whether to agree to a coalition government with republicans.

Following last week's elections to the Stormont assembly the pressure is on the parties to agree to form a joint executive before the British and Irish governments' March 26 deadline.

Prime ministers Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern said the results had "democratically validated" the St Andrews agreement, under which the deadline for devolution was set.

And Hain has made it clear that Stormont will be shut down if a deal cannot be done.

"I'm optimistic that we can achieve a working government on March 26, but it's a very stark choice for them - get into power, or shut up shop," he said ahead of the talks.

The main stumbling block remains the DUP's demand to delay any deal until Sinn Fein have shown practical support for the rule of law.

The republicans did make the historic decision earlier this year to sign up to support for policing and have urged followers to co-operate with the authorities.

However the DUP says they also need to show that this is working on the ground.

But in a bid to put further pressure on Paisley, the latest report of the Independent Monitoring Commission was also being published on Monday highlighting the Provisional IRA (PIRA)'s continued lack of criminal activity.

The report said: "We therefore conclude that terrorism and violence have been abandoned and that PIRA does not pose a threat relevant to security normalisation."

Hain welcomed the findings and said they showed the need to for politicians to agree a deal.

"This is the eighth IMC report since the IRA announced that its armed campaign had ended in July 2005, each one progressively confirming delivery of the commitments promised by them, including driving criminality out of the organisation," he said.

"This report details what the people of Northern Ireland are already experiencing - that they are living in an increasingly normalised society.

"It is now up to the politicians to normalise politics in Northern Ireland and restore devolved government and a power-sharing executive on March 26. There can be no excuses for not doing the deal."

Meanwhile DUP deputy leader Peter Robinson and MLA Ian Paisley Jr were also holding talks with Treasury officials about the budget that would be available if a devolved executive is restored.

Both Sinn Fein and the DUP benefited from last week's polls, with Paisley's party consolidating its position as the largest group, making six gains to end up with 36 seats.

Sinn Fein gained four to increase its share of seats to 28, while the Ulster Unionists were down nine on 18 seats and the nationalist SDLP down two on 16.

Sinn Fein chief negotiator McGuinness said: "Over the next fortnight the DUP have a big decision to make.

"They went into the election saying they are ready for government and they got a massive endorsement for this position."