Stormont ministers in new talks to break deadlock on coronavirus restrictions

A woman wearing a face mask in Belfast city centre, Northern Ireland, after the Stormont executive announced closures of schools, pubs and restaurants as the region enters a period of intensified coronavirus restrictions in response to spiralling infection rates. Picture: PA

Executive ministers are set for fresh discussions in a bid to break the deadlock over new coronavirus restrictions for Northern Ireland.

The fourth meeting in four days will convene on Thursday afternoon, hours after it emerged that businesses had been given the wrong deadline for the end of the current circuit-break lockdown.