Stormont row remains unaltered

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By Mark Devenport BBC NI political editor The stand off at Stormont has lasted for 147 days

The Stormont Executive last met on 19 June - it is now 147 days, that's 21 weeks or nearly five months, since the stand-off between Sinn Fein and the DUP began.

Across the world, exciting, alarming and momentous events have happened.

Americans have elected a new president. Banks and stock markets have teetered on the brink of bankruptcy.

Athletes at Beijing shattered world records. Closer to home, the Tyrone Gaelic football team won the All-Ireland final.

But at Stormont, to paraphrase Winston Churchill, the integrity of the two major parties' quarrel has remained unaltered.

What's the standoff all about? Well it all goes back to the talks at St Andrews in Scotland in 2006.

Sinn Féin believed they had a deal that a local minister would take charge of policing and justice by May this year.

However, the DUP insist they didn't sign anything. In August it looked like there had been a breakthrough.

Social Development Minister Margaret Ritchie has a full in tray

Both parties agreed they wouldn't take the justice job and that a future minister should be elected with cross community support.

But since then they've been haggling over the details.

Although the devolution of justice is the key issue, the stalemate has meant that other policy decisions have been shunted into the sidings.

There will be no movement on areas as diverse as the future of the Maze jail and rural planning restrictions unless the deadlock is broken.

An Irish language act was rejected by the former DUP Culture Minister Edwin Poots.

Perhaps progress on language rights in a more general sense will be possible if there's a wider political deal.

So far there's no sign of the government stepping in with any invitation to a fresh round of "hothouse talks" like the St Andrews or Leeds Castle negotiations.

Gentle poke

Instead the view in London is that the local politicians should stand on their own feet.

Lurking in the background is the possibility of a collapse leading to a fresh election. Are republicans calculating that would be worse news for the DUP than Sinn Féin?

Business, church and other community leaders have expressed their frustration.

Every day the Belfast Telegraph publishes a reminder on its front page of how many days it's been since the ministers sat around their table.

The Telegraph's news editor Ronan Henry describes it as a "gentle poke in the shoulder of the main parties" to remind them that, as the recession worsens, people are concerned nothing is happening up on the hill.

SDLP Social Development Minister Margaret Ritchie describes her frustration at being told just hours or minutes before a scheduled Executive that the meeting has been cancelled once again.

More important than the minister's inconvenience, though, is the wider impact.

Some decisions have been made through urgent written procedures, but Ms Ritchie still has papers on housing, alcohol licensing and fuel poverty sitting in her pending tray.

She says the fuel poverty package in particular would, if approved, make a real difference to vulnerable households this winter.

Intensive talks between the DUP and Sinn Féin have been under way inside Stormont Castle.

The details have been kept secret but this week the mood appears to have improved.

Earlier this week, appearing on the BBC's Stormont Live, the Education Minister Caitríona Ruane expressed her hope that ministers would meet before Christmas.

The decision of Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness to brief a Stormont Committee on devolving policing and justice next week - albeit behind closed doors - has been interpreted as a positive sign.

DUP members are expected to be briefed on the negotiations at a meeting on Friday night.

One source told me they thought a deal was 85% there.

However, hints of possible progress no longer seem sufficient. It will require real movement if the damage done to the image of devolution over the past 21 weeks can begin to be restored.