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.

More on the story can be read here.