Fresh elections in Northern Ireland are "highly likely" following the resignation of deputy first minister Martin McGuinness, the British government said Tuesday, but warned a vote risked deepening divisions in the once violence-ridden province.
Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire said he was working to preserve the province's devolved government, after a "breakdown in trust" between the two main parties that share power in Belfast.
"If there is no resolution then an election is inevitable, despite the widely held view that this election may deepen divisions and threaten the continuity of the devolved institutions," he said.
McGuinness, a senior member of the republican Sinn Fein party who was a commander with the paramilitary IRA in the 1970s, resigned on Monday after ten years as deputy first minister.
Under the rules of the power-sharing government, which was set up as part of the peace process, his resignation forced first minister Arlene Foster, from the rival Democratic Unionist Party, to also step down.
Sinn Fein have one week to appoint a replacement for McGuinness but have indicated they will not, making it likely that Brokenshire will have to step in to dissolve the local assembly and call a new vote.
"As things stand, an early assembly election looks highly likely," the minister told MPs in London.
Northern Ireland endured 30 years of violence known as The Troubles, in which 3,500 people died, until a 1998 peace deal paved the way for two main parties in the province to share political power.
Brokenshire urged all sides to work together to resolve the "grave" situation, saying: "This political stability has been hard gained and it should not be lightly thrown away."
In standing down, McGuinness accused Foster of "deep-seated arrogance" over a botched renewable energy subsidy scheme, a scandal that has been simmering in Northern Ireland for weeks.
Foster has been resisting Sinn Fein's calls to step aside pending an inquiry into the scheme, which she instigated in a previous job and which is likely to cost taxpayers millions of pounds.
In a press conference in Belfast, Foster -- whose DUP is close to the Conservative British government in London -- in turn accused Sinn Fein of playing "high-stakes politics with Northern Ireland's stability".
She repeated calls for an investigation into the energy scheme, over which she said she had been "disgracefully maligned", and said she was open to further discussions.
"If necessary, we will take our case to the electorate," she said.
McGuinness has recently suffered ill-health but said Monday that his resignation had "nothing to do" with this.
Fresh elections in Northern Ireland are “highly likely” following the resignation of deputy first minister Martin McGuinness, the British government said Tuesday, but warned a vote risked deepening divisions in the once violence-ridden province.
Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire said he was working to preserve the province’s devolved government, after a “breakdown in trust” between the two main parties that share power in Belfast.
“If there is no resolution then an election is inevitable, despite the widely held view that this election may deepen divisions and threaten the continuity of the devolved institutions,” he said.
McGuinness, a senior member of the republican Sinn Fein party who was a commander with the paramilitary IRA in the 1970s, resigned on Monday after ten years as deputy first minister.
Under the rules of the power-sharing government, which was set up as part of the peace process, his resignation forced first minister Arlene Foster, from the rival Democratic Unionist Party, to also step down.
Sinn Fein have one week to appoint a replacement for McGuinness but have indicated they will not, making it likely that Brokenshire will have to step in to dissolve the local assembly and call a new vote.
“As things stand, an early assembly election looks highly likely,” the minister told MPs in London.
Northern Ireland endured 30 years of violence known as The Troubles, in which 3,500 people died, until a 1998 peace deal paved the way for two main parties in the province to share political power.
Brokenshire urged all sides to work together to resolve the “grave” situation, saying: “This political stability has been hard gained and it should not be lightly thrown away.”
In standing down, McGuinness accused Foster of “deep-seated arrogance” over a botched renewable energy subsidy scheme, a scandal that has been simmering in Northern Ireland for weeks.
Foster has been resisting Sinn Fein’s calls to step aside pending an inquiry into the scheme, which she instigated in a previous job and which is likely to cost taxpayers millions of pounds.
In a press conference in Belfast, Foster — whose DUP is close to the Conservative British government in London — in turn accused Sinn Fein of playing “high-stakes politics with Northern Ireland’s stability”.
She repeated calls for an investigation into the energy scheme, over which she said she had been “disgracefully maligned”, and said she was open to further discussions.
“If necessary, we will take our case to the electorate,” she said.
McGuinness has recently suffered ill-health but said Monday that his resignation had “nothing to do” with this.
