N.Ireland assembly sits after 3-year deadlock

Northern Ireland's assembly sat on Saturday following a three-year suspension after rival nationalist and unionist parties agreed to a new power-sharing deal with Brexit looming.

The region's devolved assembly at Stormont collapsed in January 2017 over a scandal caused by the runaway costs of a renewable energy scheme.

Its 90 members have since sat only for one-off sessions, with numerous rounds of acrimonious negotiations failing to reach a solution, leaving basic services unattended.

But they returned on Saturday after Pro-Irish republicans and pro-British unionists struck a deal on Friday under the threat of a new regional election if they missed the latest deadline to reconvene on Monday.

Members will later select new ministers and assign various portfolios.

Unionist leader Arlene Foster is set to be reinstalled as first minister and effective head of the government, with republican Sinn Fein member Michelle O'Neill expected to serve as her deputy in a new executive that features several prominent women.

The UK government in London promised a large cash injection into the small but strategically important province if the republican Sinn Fein and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) found an agreement.

"Sinn Fein has taken the decision to re-enter the power-sharing institution and nominate ministers to the power-sharing executive," party leader Mary Lou McDonald told reporters.

"We're ready to do business," she said.

DUP chief Foster called the draft power-sharing agreement "fair and balanced", and wrote on Twitter Saturday that it was "time to Get Northern Ireland Moving Forward Again" after "three years of stalemate."