Paramilitary monitoring body may 'mend stalled talks'

Secretary of State Theresa Villiers said serious consideration needs to be given to whether to re-establish a body along the lines of the Independent Monitoring Commission.

She told the House of Commons on Tuesday that the situation in Northern Ireland was "very grave".

The IMC was set up in 2004 to monitor paramilitary activity and the normalisation of security measures in Northern Ireland. It stopped work officially in March 2011.