12 April 2012
Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain has thrown down the gauntlet to the province's 108 Assembly members to plot a path back to power-sharing or face the closure of Stormont.
Mr Hain signed the restoration order for devolution at Hillsborough Castle, requiring the Assembly members to gather at Stormont on Monday to nominate a new locally-elected government of unionists and nationalists.
But with the Rev Ian Paisley's Democratic Unionists already indicating they will not be in a position to form a devolved government until an agreed date in May, the parties will have to agree a new plan on their own if they are to prevent a prolonged period of rule by English, Scottish and Welsh MPs.
