Hain under fire as Stormont stand-off continues

NORTHERN Secretary Peter Hain was accused yesterday of letting Sinn Féin and the Democratic Unionists pull his strings on how he handled the North.

Nationalist SDLP leader Mark Durkan lambasted the minister after the inaugural meeting of Stormont’s preparation for government committee broke up without agreement on who should chair it.

Mr Durkan emerged from the meeting, accusing the DUP of refusing to engage with other parties and acting as if they had a veto.