Northern Ireland's McGuinness says parties can resolve crisis

BELFAST (Reuters) - Northern Ireland's parties can resolve the crisis that has led to the resignation of the province's first minister, Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness said. First Minister Peter Robinson of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) stepped aside earlier on Thursday and left his only remaining party colleague in government temporarily in charge in protest over a murder that police said was linked to the disbanded Irish Republican Army. Police suspect members of the IRA, a paramilitary group that is supposed to have disbanded, were part of the recent killing of a former member of the group and the crisis was sparked when a senior member of Sinn Fein was arrested in relation to the murder before being released on Thursday without charge. "I'm looking for a method in the madness of the last 24 hours. If this action by the DUP is intended by them to create space for talks to begin next Monday, we will certainly do everything in our power to make that work," McGuinness, whose Sinn Fein party were the former political wing of the IRA, told Irish broadcaster RTE. "I think if there's a will to resolve these difficult issues, it certainly can be done. Do I think it can be done? Yes I do." (Reporting by Padraic Halpin; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)