The Foreign Affairs Minister will travel to Belfast today for talks aimed at saving the power-sharing government in the North.

Charlie Flanagan says every effort has to be made to stop the current executive from collapsing.

He will meet with political leaders in a bid to patch up the rows between the DUP and Sinn Féin – while the SDLP Leader Colum Eastwood will hold a series of meetings in Dublin today.

Minister Flanagan says a snap election could make it even harder to repair trust afterwards: “The situation is grave.

“I would hope that every effort would be made between now and Monday to see can issues be resolved.

“I would be concerned at a devisive election campaign in Northern Ireland that would reopen issues that people would have regarded as being satisfactorily dealt with.”