Blair: St Andrews deal 'the only way forward'

Tony Blair insisted today that the St Andrews Agreement remains the “only way forward” in the wake of turbulent events at Stormont today.

The British prime minister said he had spoken to both DUP leader Ian Paisley and Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams, and was determined that “paramilitaries” would not be allowed to disrupt democracy.

Speaking from Downing Street, Mr Blair said: “No move forward in Northern Ireland is easy, we’ve learned that over 10 years, and it’s not because the people, or indeed, the leaders in Northern Ireland want it to be so, but because each step towards a different and better future is taken alongside the memory of a wretched and divisive past.”