ANALYSIS: The collapse of the Stormont talks is another huge blow for Theresa May
2 min read
It is now over a year since the Northern Ireland Assembly last sat as a functioning legislature.
In the 400-plus days since, Theresa May has visited the country once, and that was last Monday.
Before then, journalists were repeatedly told by Downing Street that the Prime Minister had trust in her Northern Ireland Secretaries (firstly James Brokenshire and now Karen Bradley) to bring Sinn Fein and the DUP together to agree a power-sharing deal, so there was no need for her to make the short hop across the Irish Sea.
So it was something of a surprise when it emerged that Mrs May would, after all, be going to Stormont to discuss the latest state of play with the parties.
"I have urged them to make one final push for the sake of the people here in Northern Ireland," she said on the steps of Stormont. "It has been thirteen long months since we last saw devolved government here and I think we are now at the point of where it is time for the locally elected representatives to find a way to work together and to deal with and tackle the many pressing issues facing Northern Ireland."
Understandably, speculation intensified that a deal which had looked improbable was now in the offing. Surely the PM's advisers would not be allowing her to go to Northern Ireland only to return with her tail between her legs?
Alas, any optimism was quickly extinguished a mere 24 hours later when DUP leader Arlene Foster said Mrs May's visit had been "a distraction" from the vital negotiations.
Foster - whose 10 MPs prop up Theresa May's government, don't forget - followed that up yesterday by formally pulling the plug on the whole process.
"For almost four weeks we have been engaged in intensive negotiations with Sinn Fein," she said. "We have attempted to find a stable and sustainable basis for restoring devolution. Those discussions have been unsuccessful."
Once again, the woman who, with one phone call, forced Mrs May to delay a Brexit deal with the EU before Christmas, had left her supposed political partner with egg on her face.
The collapse of the Stormont talks are a disaster in the first instance for the people of Northern Ireland, whose domestic affairs continue to be attended to by a bunch of unelected civil servants rather than accountable politicians.
But they are also yet another blow to the authority of a weakened Prime Minister - and raise serious questions about the quality of advice she is receiving from those around her.
