Devolution deadline - Parties must find a way to end impasse

DEADLINES, like rules, are made to be broken. Especially in Northern Ireland, where every deadline imposed by the Irish and British governments down the years has been brushed aside by loyalists or nationalist, or both.

The deadline to end all deadlines has been set for midnight tonight. But according to the Taoiseach, the DUP decision not to nominate Mr Paisley as First Minister, but to share power in May, means this deadline also cannot be met.

Yet, a chink of light can still be seen at the end of the tunnel following Northern Secretary Peter Hain’s declaration that if the DUP and Sinn Féin can hammer out an agreed proposal among themselves, the two governments would consider it.