SDLP plan opponents 'arguing for direct rule'

Opponents of the SDLP’s plan for a team of civic administrators to run government departments in Northern Ireland in the absence of devolution are really arguing for direct rule from Westminster, party leader Mark Durkan claimed today.

The former Stormont Deputy First Minister told Derry’s chamber of commerce that opponents of the plan were afraid that the administrators, who would be nominated by the British and Irish governments and drawn from all walks of life, would actually prove to be too good at the job.