“While today’s meeting was welcome, it is essential the Secretary of State now provides a road map on how to restore the Assembly, because at the current moment this process is only treading water. For the UK Government to just manage the situation in terms of the governance void in Northern Ireland completely misses the major issues.
“The real challenge is now for the Secretary of State to outline how we can have a re-energised talks process and a plan to get devolution restored, allowing us to get back to the work we were elected to do.
“This also comes at a crucial time in the Brexit process. We need full transparency from the UK and Irish Governments as to what is happening in terms of the ongoing negotiations, in particular regarding the proposed backstop and it being legally operative and time-limited. There is a supreme irony in our future being talked about over our heads, without the input of locally-elected representatives.”