"Profound implications" if Northern Ireland parties fail to agree deal - Britain

LONDON (Reuters) - There would be "profound and serious" implications if parties in Northern Ireland failed to agree on the creation of a new executive to govern, Britain's minister for the province said on Wednesday. A power-sharing agreement between Irish nationalists and their pro-British rivals collapsed in January and both sides have missed a series of deadlines to restore the assembly. The latest deadline is for Thursday. "Our focus is on seeing that the executive is restored and I have been clear on not wanting to pre-empt what may happen should that not be the case. Obviously there would be profound and serious implications in that context," James Brokenshire told parliament. (Reporting by Elizabeth Piper; editing by Costas Pitas)