Theresa May And Leo Varakar In NI Amid Hopes To Restore Power-Sharing

The British and Irish prime ministers have met in Stormont following speculation that a power-sharing Executive may be restored in Northern Ireland.

NI has been without and Executive since January 2017, and reports suggest that the DUP and Sinn Fein are close to making a deal.

Prime Minister Theresa May met Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and she is also expected to meet with NI political parties later on today, 12 February.

Prior to the meeting she met with workers at Bombardier's plant in Belfast.

She was given a tour of the plant which is the main production site for wings for the C-Series.

SDLP Leader Colum Eastwood said that forming an Executive is "not enough in itself".

He said: "For a year northern politics has ignored the economic and social rights of our people -the SDLP will once again be putting them back on the table.

"People understand that simply forming a new Executive is not in itself enough. The real change necessary is an end to the cycle of two parties who have proved themselves very good at the art of political standoff but very bad at the responsibility of government. That is the joint DUP/Sinn Féin status quo that must now end."

(CD)