Sinn Fein voters 'want action'

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If the Sinn Fein deadline for the the devolution of policing is not met the party may not return to Stormont in the new year, a Sinn Fein MLA has said.

Francie Brolly, who retires this week, said their voters wanted to see action.

Last week Martin McGuinness said if Sinn Fein and the DUP did not resolve differences before Christmas, power-sharing could become unsustainable.

On Tuesday, Shaun Woodward ruled out suspending the Assembly if the problems were not sorted by the New Year.

The secretary of state said after the St Andrews Agreement, he did not have the power to do so and was not considering creating the power.

The DUP and Sinn Fein have been arguing for months over the transfer of justice powers from London to Belfast.

Support

Mr Brolly, while hopeful the outstanding issues could be resolved, said progress must be made.

"I think it is more likely that this thing will be worked out," he said.

"The thing is we have a constituency out there, they are wondering how long they can support us beating our head against a wall, not getting anywhere. They want us to get places."

He was elected to represent East Londonderry in the assembly in 2003 and 2007, but aged 71 has decided to retire from politics.

Mr Woodward and Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin discussed the current hiatus in Stormont politics in Dublin on Tuesday.

They played down the possibility of a St Andrews-style "hothouse" talks session to try to resolve the outstanding issues and said they hoped the parties could sort it out themselves.

"We believe the political parties both want to do this, it's a question of providing as much help as we can with the framework but ultimately this must be a matter for them," Mr Woodward said.

Mr Martin said it was not a time for recrimination or blame, but to "focus on the issues".

The British and Irish prime ministers are to hold talks later this week to discuss the problems.

Sinn Fein has said the assembly faces a "full-blown crisis" if the powers are not devolved by Christmas, however, DUP leader Peter Robinson has rejected their calls for the deadline to be met.