DUP does not expect Northern Ireland deal by Christmas – spokesperson

Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party does not expect to reach a deal with London to secure its return to the power-sharing government by Christmas, a spokesperson for the region's largest pro-British party said on Monday. British officials are due to resume talks with local parties on Monday on how to boost Northern Ireland's strained budget, with an acceptable package seen as one of the prerequisites for the DUP to consider returning to devolved government. But any hope of restoring the mandatory devolved coalition – a centrepiece of the 1998 Good Friday peace agreement that ended three decades of sectarian bloodshed – also hinges on parallel talks between the DUP and the British government over post-Brexit trade rules.