Taoiseach hopes Northern Ireland talks can resume shortly

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has said he hopes talks to resolve the crisis at Stormont can "be got on track" shortly.

Mr Kenny said he had been briefed on the situation by Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan on Tuesday.

This followed Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers's statement in the House of Commons that "serious consideration" should be given to the creation of a new body to determine the status of the IRA and other paramilitary groups.

“Obviously the Secretary of State made her comments in the Commons. I hope these talks can be got on track and I’ll be speaking to the Minister again shortly,” Mr Kenny said on Wednesday, on his way into Cabinet.

Mr Flanagan and Ms Villiers are expected to meet in Belfast on Wednesday and they are also due to hold a series of bilateral meetings with some of the political parties in the North.

However, talks involving all five of the main parties in the North and the two governments are unlikely to be held today.

The DUP's acting First Minister Arlene Foster made clear on Tuesday her party was expecting more from Ms Villiers than the announcement there could be a role for a new body similar to the former Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC) in evaluating whether the IRA and other paramilitary groups were still operating.

There wasn’t anything “adequate” in Ms Villiers’ statement “that would allow us to move forward into a substantive talks process”, added Ms Foster.

“She needs to do more than just look and consider; we need to see action in relation to those matters and we hope over the coming days that we will see that,” she said.

The acting First Minister is the only DUP Minister still in the Northern Executive after DUP leader Peter Robinson last week stood aside from his post as First Minister and withdrew all his other Ministers from the Executive.

Ulster Unionist leader Mike Nesbitt also withdrew his single Minister, Danny Kennedy, from the Executive in response to the police assessment that the IRA is still in existence and that some of its members were implicated in the murder last month of Belfast republican Kevin McGuigan, although without the authority of the IRA leadership.

Mr Robinson described Ms Villiers’ remarks as a “holding statement” and added that it “delays start of talks”. He indicated he is expecting some further elaboration from Ms Villiers.

Ms Villiers as well as flagging up the possibility of a new IMC-type body also appeared to indicate a potential role for the National Crime Agency and also for similar agencies in the South in tackling various forms of crime involving current or former paramilitaries.

“The government will also actively consider whether there is more that we can do to support efforts to tackle organised crime and cross-Border crime in Northern Ireland. In the days to come, we will continue to listen carefully to representations made to us on the best way to ensure all parties can engage in the process,” the Northern Secretary told MPs.