DUP blamed for power-sharing failure

The only outstanding issue facing Northern Ireland’s politicians is whether Ian Paisley’s Democratic Unionists will form a power sharing executive, it was claimed today.

The only outstanding issue facing the North’s politicians is whether Ian Paisley’s Democratic Unionists will form a power sharing executive, it was claimed today.

As speculation mounted that British prime minister Tony Blair and Taoiseach Bertie Ahern will host Leeds Castle-style hothouse talks with the parties in Scotland or England in October, Sinn Féin Assembly member Alex Maskey said his party was willing and ready to share power with the DUP.