They met Northern Ireland Secretary Karen Bradley at Stormont on Monday as she considers kick-starting fresh political talks to try and break an impasse created since the collapse of Stormont institutions early last year.
The religious figures representing the Catholic church and denominations of Protestantism said their meeting had been positive and encouraging.
In a joint statement they said: “Our discussions today came on the back of our meeting with the political parties a week ago, where we discussed our concerns over the impact of the absence of devolved government in Northern Ireland and the importance of relationships and building trust.
“We also impressed upon the Secretary of State those same concerns, as we did last week with the party leaders, and reiterated our willingness and desire to assist and support where we could in the challenges that lie ahead. We also emphasised the imperative to find space for ongoing dialogue.”
Endless rounds of negotiations have failed to engineer restoration of the institutions, with the two main parties – the DUP and Sinn Fein – fundamentally split over issues like Brexit.
Stormont has not sat since early last year after Sinn Fein left the institutions in protest at the DUP’s handling of a botched green energy scheme.
Repeated rounds of negotiations have failed to bring about their resurrection.
Church leaders present were…
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