Members of the Northern Ireland assembly have been called to meet at Stormont on Monday for the first time since 2017.

MLAs were today informed that there would be a special sitting will take place, 1,004 days after the power-sharing government collapsed. The move is a last-minute attempt to prevent a new law on abortion being triggered in the North. Legislation on abortion and same-sex marriage were due to change on Monday 21 October if the assembly didn't reconvene by this date. Former Police Ombudsman Baroness Nuala O'Loan, who opposes changes to the North's current abortion laws, this week called for MLAs to meet before the deadline. She was supported by the DUP, with leader Arlene Foster stating that her party would be seeking a recall. A petition on the issue today reached 31 signatures from members and today assembly Speaker Robin Newton today wrote to all MLAs, informing them that a special siting would take place on Monday. They will meet at 12pm to discuss the motion "that this Assembly agrees that the legislative position in Northern Ireland will most appropriately be determined by the Northern Ireland Assembly." Members will need to form a new power-sharing executive before they can begin the discussion. Sinn Féin has said that its members will not take part on Monday.