The UK's Northern Ireland Secretary is due to hold talks today with the five main parties in a fresh effort to restore a power-sharing Executive at Stormont.

Northern Ireland has been without a functioning government for more than 600 days, following the collapse of the previous Executive amid a row over a botched energy scheme.

A number of efforts by Sinn Féin and the DUP to reach an agreement have broken down - with the DUP earlier this year saying there was "no current prospect of these discussions leading to an Executive being formed".

Last month it was announced that MLAs in Stormont will have their salaries reduced, amid the ongoing failure to form an Executive.

Karen Bradley will hold a fresh round of talks later, and will also meet with church leaders and Tánaiste Simon Coveney.

Speaking ahead of today's meeting, Sinn Féin's leader in the North Michelle O'Neill said any attempt to move away from the Good Friday Agreement will fail. 

She observed: “Far from providing an opportunity to re-establish political dialogue with the aim of restoring the Executive as soon as possible, no credible process has been presented by both Governments to the parties which Sinn Féin have been insisting upon since February.

“It clear that the British government’s reliance on the DUP remains the main block to progress here." 

She added: “Sinn Féin is a party of dialogue and we have invested in and are fully committed to the Good Friday Agreement framework and its institutions, but they must operate on the basis and spirit in which they were created."