Assembly election date 'could be a mistake'

Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain could be making a mistake in setting March 7 as the date for a fresh Assembly election, he was warned today.

As Mr Hain prepared to unveil emergency legislation in the House of Commons to implement British and Irish government plans for power sharing in the North, nationalist SDLP leader Mark Durkan was concerned that the Democratic Unionists could use a new Assembly election to slow down political progress.