A group of protesters have gathered outside the gates of Stormont to voice their frustration at the current political impasse in Northern Ireland.

Around 50 women and children protested as the Secretary of State Peter Mandelson was making his statement in the House of Commons on Thursday night.

Secretary of State's Peter Mandelson's statement to the Commons was on the fate of the Northern Ireland Assembly and its executive.

The fragile peace process in Northern Ireland has been threatened by the lack of progress on arms decommissioning and in particular the failure of the IRA to hand-over its weapons.

In the shadow of parliament buildings, the People Moving On group staged a candlelit vigil.

Their message was 'hope' spelt out in candles.

The campaigners were vocal in the 'Yes' campaign which voted in favour of the Good Friday Agreement.

Now they are afraid their efforts were being wasted.

One protestor said: "People Moving On came about because we wanted the agreement implemented and that is how we started.

"We thought we had got it, now that it looks in danger again we felt the time was right to come out again and make the people's voices heard."

The People Moving On group said they will continue to protest until a peaceful end to the process is reached.

The announcement to MPs by the Northern Ireland Secretary followed the deadlock between Ulster Unionists and Sinn Fein following the IRA's failure to decommission weapons.

Downing Street stressed the step was being taken "as a contingency" and no date would be set for suspension once the necessary legislation had been rushed through the Commons in the next few days.

The suspension of the Northern Ireland Assembly would mean "direct rule" being re-introduced from Westminster.