The administrators for Harland & Wolff have extended the temporary unpaid lay-off of workers in what a trade union said was a "light at the end of the tunnel" for the stricken shipyard.

As the Belfast Telegraph reports, business advisers BDO said they had agreed with trade unions that the majority of the 123 staff would continue their temporary lay-off - a move which staves off redundancy.

Staff have been holding a sit-in at the yard as unions called for renationalisation, although the Government has said its difficulties are a commercial issue.

Potential buyers had until midday yesterday (Thursday) to make an offer but the deadline has now been extended. Administrators said they hoped expressions of interest could translate into a viable offer .

East Belfast MP Gavin Robinson said: "This is welcome news and is a demonstration of the ongoing work to secure a positive outcome for the shipyard."

Mr Robinson added he was talking to government about how it could help the shipyard and would also meet the administrator with his party leader Arlene Foster on Monday.

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A trade union, writes Belfast Telegraph, the GMB has said it's in talks with the administrators of Harland & Wolff about extending the temporary lay-off of staff beyond Friday, it has emerged.

GMB and the Unite union last week reached agreement with business advisers BDO, who were appointed administrators to the stricken shipyard last week, that workers would be laid-off temporarily in a move to stave off redundancy.

Unions have called for renationalisation of the firm, which was previously in government ownership in the 1980s and 1990s.

Yesterday Michael Mulholland of the GMB told the Belfast Telegraph the union is now in talks with the administrators about extending the lay-off, though no agreement has yet been reached.

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