Plan for Belfast assembly still pushed by London

The British government plans to go ahead with a power-sharing plan to set up a new regional assembly in Northern Ireland - despite the opposition of Ulster politicians and the apathy of the local population - Monitor contributor Alf McCreary reports.

By the end of July, a law will likely have been passed to set up an elected assembly in Belfast. Certain powers of self-government will be transferred to Ulster politicians if and when they show sufficient agreement and responsibility to handle those powers. Any such transfers, however, will require power-sharing between the province's 1 million Protestants and half million Roman Catholics, so far an impossible task.