Nationalisation of Northern Rock In October 2008 the chairman Ron Sandler noted that there had been informal talks concerning the idea of the merger with the government, but there had been no subsequent discussion. Sandler did however add "It would not surprise me at some point if a closer look was taken at the method of managing loan books within government-owned banks". In March 2009 Alistair Darling said that he was keeping his options open during the "fast-moving" crisis in the banking industry, and thus not ruling out the possibility of a mortgage book merger between Northern Rock and Bradford & Bingley. On 24
Executive of the 5th Northern Ireland Assembly Executive of the 5th Northern Ireland Assembly The Fourth Executive was, under the terms of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, a power-sharing coalition. Following the 6 May 2016 elections to the fifth Northern Ireland Assembly, the Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Féin remained the two largest parties in the Assembly. Notably for the first time in the assembly's history, parties entitled to seats on the executive could instead opt to go into formal opposition. The UUP, SDLP and Alliance all took up this option, leaving the DUP and Sinn Féin to form a government. The 4th Northern Ireland Executive was