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The British government has warned that it will never allow the republic to have joint authority over Northern Ireland. It released a statement after the Irish foreign Minister Simon Coveney said there could be no UK-only direct rule. He made his comment after talks yesterday with the main Stormont parties to try to break the political stalemate. And some parties sounded more pessimistic than usual.

Now, he's one of the longest-serving party leaders in the world, but the Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams has given the strongest indication yet that he's considering stepping down from overall leadership of the republican party. He will put his name forward as President again in November, but wants to put in place plans for "generational change" within the party, possibly paving the way for the first woman - Mary-Lou McDonald - to take over. Here's what he told a party conference yesterday.