There are now just ten weeks left until the 24 November deadline for the restoration of the political institutions of the Good Friday Agreement. On the surface, the DUP appears intent on breaching the deadline and avoiding taking the political decisions necessary to see the return of power-sharing government in the North. Amid a growing sense of urgency, it is now clear that both the Irish and British Governments need to spell out the alternative in stark terms. The DUP's political thinking seems to be based on the belief that it can prevent change by exercising a veto on the political process. Free article

In an interview with the Belfast Telegraph on Wednesday, Sinn Féin spokeperson on Justice and Policing, Gerry Kelly MLA said that a decision by Sinn Fein to participate in policing could come within weeks of a timeframe being agreed for the transfer of powers to democratic political institutions in Ireland. Free article

Sinn Féin and the Progressive Unionist Party have confirmed that they will work together to combat sectarianism in Derry. In a joint statement Councillor Lynn Fleming, Sinn Féin Mayor of Derry, and Leslie Mitchell of the PUP said the two parties had committed themselves to a process of dialogue in order to develop initiatives based on agreed community issues. These initiatives would work within and between the two communities, they said. Free article

The failure of the Parades Commission in the Six Counties to issue a determination regarding a planned loyalist rally in Portadown this weekend is causing widespread anger and apprehension within the local nationalist community. Free article

Sinn Féin South Belfast MLA Alex Maskey has said that the British Government are determined to increase the rates pain facing everyone living in the North. Free article

Relatives for Justice have called for an independent inquiry after it emerged that the recently-created PSNI Historical Enquiries Team (HET) has been unable to locate RUC files relating to at least 1,000 killings. Some of the missing files are believed to be linked to shoot-to-kill and collusion cases. Free article

The assertion by newly-selected Progressive Democrat leader and Tánaiste Michael McDowell that the 26 County Government could do without the €2.6 billion raised through stamp duty - a tax on the sale of property - has raised tensions in the Fianna Fáil/PD coalition. The blatantly right wing and elitist nature of the PDs and the populist aspirations of Fianna Fáil have been drawn into sharp contrast by McDowell's latest outburst. Free article