Talks On Welfare Bill In Northern Ireland Underway Today

Talks on welfare bill in northern ireland underway today

Crunch talks will take place in Stormont today in an effort to save the Northern Assembly. The power-sharing executive is facing collapse after it failed to reach a deal on the Welfare Bill. Representatives of the British and Irish governments, and Northern parties, will meet Northern Secretary of State Theresa Villers this afternoon with a deal required by the end of July. MP David Ford says the North cannot limp on to next month's deadline. "The reality is the deal was done in December in the Stormont House Agreement, it's now up to other people to live with that, to accept it and to put it into place" he said. "We cannot continue further weeks without resolving the problems" he added.