Stormont talks: Deal unlikely before the autumn

While no formal suspension has been announced by the UK Government and the main Stormont parties say they're willing to continue talks, negotiations are unlikely to resume in the short term.

Sinn Fein blamed the failure to reach consensus on the Democratic Unionists' parliamentary deal with the Prime Minister.

The party's Stormont leader Michelle O'Neill said: "What this constitutes is a monumental failure on behalf of Theresa May.''

However, the DUP claimed Sinn Fein's "excessive shopping list'' of demands is preventing the formation of a new executive.

In a statement, Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire said: "Despite the progress made by the parties to restore devolved government in Northern Ireland, gaps remain.''

Mr Brokenshire is now likely to have to step in to pass a budget for Stormont's rudderless administration before the end of July.

"I will reflect carefully in the coming days on any further steps which may be required to support the continued effective provision of public services in Northern Ireland,'' he said.

Imminent recesses at Stormont and Westminster - and heightened community tensions around the loyal order marching season - are among the factors inhibiting a breakthrough in the short term.

Mrs O'Neill criticised Mrs May.

"She has set back decades of work that has been done here throughout the years and it's a consequence, as we all know, of the DUP supporting the Prime Minister and the Prime Minister in turn supporting the DUP,'' she said.

DUP leader Arlene Foster suggested a deal will now have to wait until at least the autumn.

"We are disappointed we don't have an agreement this afternoon,'' she said.

"We are going to keep working at it through the summer and hopefully we can come to an agreement later on in the year.

"We are certainly up for an agreement, we are up for devolution.''

Sticking points include the shape of legislation to protect Irish language speakers, the DUP's opposition to lifting the region's ban on same-sex marriage, and mechanisms to deal with the legacy of the Troubles.

While MLAs have not been sitting in Parliament Buildings since March's snap election, the Assembly's official summer recess starts on Friday.

Negotiations were always unlikely to succeed if they stretched into mid-July, when they would be framed against the backdrop of the heightened community tensions that traditionally surround the Orange Order commemorations.

Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said: "The Governments can support and encourage but, in the final analysis, it is only the parties themselves that can make an agreement with each other.

"All sides may now wish to reflect on how progress can best be made and I would encourage the parties to maintain dialogue with each other over the coming weeks.''

The devolved institutions imploded in January when Mrs Foster was forced from office after Sinn Fein's then deputy first minister, the late Martin McGuinness, quit.

That was in protest at the DUP's handling of the renewable heat incentive , a botched scheme that left the administration facing a £490 million overspend.

Mr McGuinness's move triggered March's snap Assembly poll and subsequent months of faltering negotiations to restore a devolved government