Unionists threaten to bring down Northern Ireland government over IRA crisis

BELFAST (Reuters) - Northern Ireland's largest pro-British party threatened to bring down the province's power-sharing government unless parliament is suspended while talks to save the grand coalition take place. The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) last week unsuccessfully sought the permission of a parliamentary committee to suspend all sittings ahead of talks, which began on Tuesday, to avert a crisis over an Irish Republican Army-linked murder. A senior member of Northern Ireland's main Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein, the one-time political wing of the IRA which leads the government with the DUP, was arrested in relation to the murder earlier on Wednesday, prompting the fresh threat. "As a consequence of today's events, we are seeking the recall of the Business Committee to consider adjourning the Assembly," Northern Ireland's First Minister Peter Robinson said in a statement. "If that does not happen or, as an alternative, the Secretary of State does not suspend the Assembly, then DUP Ministerial resignations will follow immediately," he said. (Writing by Padraic Halpin in Dublin; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)