A former US diplomat, who chaired previous political negotiations in Northern Ireland, has predicted the current power-sharing impasse could bring a push for Irish unity.
Richard Haass said a combination of poor leadership, Brexit and failure to deal with the legacy of the past had created the problems facing Stormont.
Mr Haass, the current president of the New York based Council on Foreign Relations, expressed hope that the political deadlock would not usher in a return to violence.
In 2013, Mr Haass was drafted in to chair crunch talks aimed at averting the collapse of power-sharing.
Despite weeks of cross-party negotiations in Belfast, he failed to find a breakthrough on the thorny issues of flags, parading and the legacy of the Troubles.
He had previously served as special envoy to Northern Ireland under the presidency of George W Bush.
Northern Ireland at a crisis point, the result of poor leadership, Brexit, & a failure to deal with the past. agree that the current impasse likely to lead to restructuring of its politics and/or push for Irish unification. hoping it does not lead to any resumption of violence.
— Richard N. Haass (@RichardHaass) November 21, 2017
The Stormont Executive has not sat since power-sharing between the DUP and Sinn Féin collapsed in January.
Protracted talks to resolve the ongoing disagreements around language and cultural issues, including over whether to have an Irish Language Act, have failed to yield a breakthrough.
British Prime Minster Theresa May met both sides at Downing Street yesterday and said she remained hopeful an agreement can be reached.
Last night, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said he would urge the recall of the British Irish Inter-Governmental Conference if a deal to revive power-sharing proved elusive.
