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Last chance for deadlocked N. Ireland parties

Britain's Northern Ireland Secretary Karen Bradley (R) and Ireland's Foreign Minister Simon Coveney leave a joint press conference in Belfast, after telling the two sides they must reach an agreement to restore a power-sharing executive within the next few weeks

Northern Ireland's squabbling political parties were told Thursday that fresh talks to restore a power-sharing government after a year in limbo must produce results within weeks. Following a meeting in Belfast, Britain's new Northern Ireland Secretary Karen Bradley and Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said the new talks on re-establishing a devolved regional government will start next week. Previous rounds of exhaustive talks have come to nothing, with deadlines repeatedly missed. However, Bradley said the parties would be given a final chance to get a shared executive up and running in the British province. "What has quickly become clear to me is that time is short and one last opportunity to reach agreement remains," Bradley said. She said all the parties wanted to reach an agreement, so "a short, intense set of political talks" would start on Wednesday. The two largest parties, the Democratic Unionists (DUP) and Sinn Fein, are at loggerheads over some final sticking points. The contentious issues deadlocking the talks include same-sex marriage and an Irish language law. Failure to make "rapid progress" will mean the British government will set a budget for the new financial year, while fresh elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly -- last held in May 2016 and March 2017 -- would also be looked at. "Progress must be swift," Bradley said. "The people of Northern Ireland cannot continue to have their public services suffer by the lack of an executive." Coveney added: "We are talking about weeks rather than months here." Bradley said she would update the British parliament no later than February 7. As the largest parties from each side of Northern Ireland's sectarian divide, the pro-British DUP and Irish republican Sinn Fein are supposed to govern together under a power-sharing accord reached in 1998 to end three decades of conflict. But year-long negotiations between the two sides, after Sinn Fein brought down the semi-autonomous executive by pulling out of it, have proved unsuccessful. Public opinion shows signs of weariness, with many denouncing the stalemate and calling for decisions in key areas like health and education.