Stormont crisis: Cross-party talks to begin next week

The talks, which will be held at Stormont House, will be led by Secretary of State Theresa Villiers

Downing Street has confirmed that "urgent, intensive and focused cross-party talks" will begin next week in Belfast in an attempt to resolve the crisis at the assembly.

It was sparked by the recent murder of Kevin McGuigan Sr.

The Ulster Unionists withdrew from the executive after police said Provisional IRA members had a role in the killing.

The talks, which will be held at Stormont House, will be led by Secretary of State Theresa Villiers.

The talks will cover two issues - securing the full implementation of the Stormont House Agreement and paramilitary activity.

The five biggest parties will be asked to take part in the discussions.

'Real threat'

A Downing Street spokesperson said Prime Minister David Cameron and Taoiseach Enda Kenny had spoken on Wednesday about the situation in Northern Ireland.

"They agreed that the current situation in Northern Ireland is serious and without urgent progress there is a real threat to the stability of the devolved institutions," the spokesperson added.

Mr Cameron also had separate discussions with First Minister Peter Robinson and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness.

Ms Villiers has also held a series of meetings and conversations with all the main parties in Northern Ireland and with the Irish government.

"A failure to resolve the issues under discussion would raise serious questions about the sustainability of the devolved institutions," she said.

'Full implementation'

"I would expect each of the parties to give these talks their highest priority as we seek to find a way forward."

Downing Street said the purpose of the talks was to "secure full implementation of the Stormont House Agreement and to deal with issues arising from the impact of continued paramilitary activity in Northern Ireland".

The Irish government will be involved on matters for which they have responsibility.

In a statement, Mr Kenny said: "We envisage that this process of talks should be short, focused and intensive and deal with full implementation of the Stormont House Agreement as well as the trust and confidence issues arising from the legacy of paramilitarism."

The assembly is due to return on Monday.

Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness welcomed the talks announcement.

"We have been calling over several months now for the parties and the two governments to get around the table to work together on finding a resolution to the real difficulties facing the political process," he said.

The SDLP's Alex Attwood said the talks "must be the only show in town" and the British government should have no "understandings" with any party.

Alliance Party leader David Ford said the talks "need to be a genuine attempt to move beyond the seemingly endless cycle of crisis after crisis".

"Uncertainty must be brought to an end and paramilitarism cannot remain in our society, poisoning relationships and being the great unsaid truth in Northern Ireland," he said.