The Stormont executive collapsed in February 2022
The Northern Ireland secretary will conclude his latest series of meetings with the main Northern Ireland parties later on Thursday.
Chris Heaton-Harris will hold separate meetings with Sinn Féin and the UUP at Hillsborough Castle.
It follows talks with the DUP, SDLP and the Alliance Party in London on Wednesday.
The talks are aimed at restoring the devolved institutions at Stormont which collapsed in February 2022.
There had been hope of a possible breakthrough before Westminster’s summer recess, which begins on Thursday, but there is still no end in sight to the DUP’s Stormont boycott.
Speaking after meeting Mr Heaton-Harris on Wednesday, the DUP’s deputy leader, Gavin Robinson, said the government knows what steps are needed to restore devolution.
However, SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said the DUP had been given “far too much road” and that it was time for the government to get much tougher on them.
The Alliance Party’s Stephen Farry said he was “not entirely sure that the government and the DUP are on the same page”.
As far as getting Stormont restored, the end-of-term report card will surely read ‘Must do better’.
Sources say the secretary of state’s focus remains on facilitating the return of the executive as soon as possible and that in these meetings he’ll press the parties on their plans for a programme for government.
But, as always, everything appears to hinge on the government’s discussions with the DUP, around which we are simply told “there will be no running commentary”.
But with Parliament not due back until the first week in September and the DUP saying legislation is required, the odds on a deal in the autumn do not look good.
The executive collapsed in February 2022 when the DUP withdrew as part of its boycott of the Northern Ireland Protocol.
The protocol oversaw post-Brexit trade rules for Northern Ireland.
The Windsor Framework made changes to the protocol aimed at significantly reducing the number of post-Brexit checks required on goods travelling between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.
Civil servants have been running Northern Ireland departments since the executive collapsed.
