British to continue efforts to restore Northern institutions

The British government is determined to restore devolved government in the North, according Queen Elizabeth II's traditional speech at the opening of the new parliament.

The Queen said in her speech today that the government would "work to bring about the conditions necessary for the restoration of political institutions in Northern Ireland".

The institutions have been suspended since October 2002 and the Irish and British governments have overseen three failed attempts since then to have them restored.

The future prospects appear bleak, with the Democratic Unionist Party demanding that the institutions be restored without the involvement of Sinn Féin, something that is unacceptable to nationalists.

It is also unclear how the IRA will respond to Gerry Adams' call for the organisation to end its armed struggle and commit exclusively to the political route.