All night talks at Hillsborough to try and save Stormont executive

Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Irish Taoiseach Brian Cowen arrived in the village on Monday night to begin negotiations to avert the crisis surrounding the transfer of policing and justice powers to Stormont from London.

The talks at Hillsborough Castle, which Downing Street described as "frank" and "hard going", continuned until the early hours of Tuesday morning and, after resuming in the afternoon continued through the night until nearly 6am.

Mr Brown and Mr Cowen are chairing the discussions in an attempt to find agreement and avert the collapse of the Assembly.

The prime minister's spokesperson said: "It was hard going but the parties engaged in good faith. There was frank discussion across a range of issues.

Optimism grew on Tuesday night when the DUP, Sinn Fein, the UUP, SDLP and Alliance delegations met together with the two premiers, but hopes appeared to have lowered by the end of the all night discussions.

Sinn Fein wants a date for the transfer of policing and justice, but the DUP says there must first be community confidence.

They have singled out the parades issue as the key element in establishing unionist confidence in the process, but Sinn Fein says agreement on the transfer of powers was already set out in the St Andrew's Agreement.

On Tuesday, Sinn Fein minister Conor Murphy insisted the crisis was real, rejecting DUP MP Sammy Wilson's claim that Sinn Fein had contrived it.

Northern Ireland Secretary Shaun Woodward said the process was reaching an "endgame".