Other News In Brief

Independent Facilitator Needed For All-Party Talks

An independent facilitator should be appointed to chair all-party talks without further delay, Alliance Leader Naomi Long MLA, has said.

The East Belfast MLA was speaking ahead of planned meetings with Secretary of State Karen Bradley and Tánaiste Simon Coveney, and the other party leaders this week to discuss the ongoing impasse. She said the drift which has been ongoing since talks collapsed in February cannot continue any longer. 

She said: "Another week has passed since the Secretary of State announced there would be further concentrated efforts to restore power-sharing devolution, yet there has been no indication that the Governments have decided where to go from here.

"Alliance's Next Steps Forward document put proposals to both Governments and the other parties which still represent the best chance of resolving the ongoing political stand-off. Key to our proposals was an independent facilitator, something which we first called for a year ago. In June we supplied a list of individuals, of national and international standing, who we felt may be able to assist. On each occasion when we raised this, we were told the talks were close to concluding and it would be disruptive to bring someone in from outside. 

"That is clearly not the case now - there is simply no activity to disrupt. We now have a window of opportunity to appoint a facilitator who can start to engage with all parties ahead of the summer, get up to speed with all of the issues and start to structure the intensive work required to restore the institutions. 

"Only the appointment of a facilitator can start to rebuild trust between the parties, inject some urgency and direction into the process, and provide the public with reassurances those they elected are living up to their responsibilities to make devolution work."

Belfast International Airport Sold To French Firm

Belfast International Airport is to be sold to French infrastructure firm, Vinci.

The sale is part of a larger deal for a total of nine airports across the world with OMERS Infrastructure.

The deal sees OMERS Infrastructure selling its stake in Airports Worldwide (AWW), which includes Belfast International Airport alongside airports in the US, Costa Rica and Sweden.

SDLP Challenge May To 'Face Down Brexit Extremists'

SDLP Leader Colum Eastwood has challenged the British Prime Minister Theresa May to finally face down the minority of Brexit extremists in her own cabinet and on the Tory backbenches.

Mr Eastwood said the choice in the coming weeks boiled down to being held ransom by Boris Johnson and Liam Fox or finally getting rid of them.

The SDLP Leader said: "It is a fundamentally dangerous idea that we now face the threat of being dragged out of the European customs union simply because this British Government doesn’t have the courage to face down the small minority of extremists in its cabinet and on its backbenches.

"It is decision time for the British Prime Minister Theresa May. Allow the future economic interests of these islands to be dictated by the extreme Brexiteers Boris Johnson and Liam Fox or finally face them down and get rid of them."

(MH)