Northern Ireland could be increasingly isolated internationally if its politicians fail to restore devolution soon, a former Stormont minister warned today.
The SDLP's Mr Sean Farren claimed supporters of the Belfast Agreement around the world could turn their backs on the North if the Assembly and other institutions remained suspended.
The former finance minister argued: "Economic as well as political support is at stake if we fail.
"Creating an exclusively democratic and peaceful society was the widely shared expectation following the Agreement, not a stop-go process in which democratic institutions would operate only fitfully.
"Support from abroad was intended to reinforce this process. We cannot anticipate international support continuing indefinitely if pro-Agreement parties do not combine to ensure this will happen," he said.
Devolution has been suspended in Northern Ireland since last October following allegations of an IRA spy ring at Stormont.
Unionists threatened to quit the power-sharing executive until they had a guarantee from the IRA that they were ending all paramilitary activity. Efforts to revive power sharing failed in May as British Prime Minister Tony Blair pulled plans for Assembly Elections four days into the campaign.
PA