Sinn Féin and DUP ‘not close to a deal’, says Leo Varadkar

In a forthright assessment of the impasse, the Fine Gael leader said "big things" were not being dealt with in the North.

Sinn Féin and the Democratic Unionists are no longer close to a deal to restore powersharing in the North, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said.

Mr Varadkar said hopes of an imminent agreement had emerged last week but those had now receded.