THE head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service has deferred his retirement again until after the talks deadline at Stormont.
Sir Malcolm McKibbin will step down on June 30, following the next round of negotiations among politicians.
It is the second time the north's most senior civil servant has deferred his retirement due to the political impasse. He had initially announced he would stand down in January, but was asked to remain in post until April.
His initial deferral came after the late Martin McGuinness resigned as deputy first minister, triggering the collapse of the assembly.
However, with no Executive in place and a looming Westminster election, Sir Malcolm has announced he will delay his retirement once again.
Appointed in 2011, Sir Malcolm had previously served as Permanent Secretary of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development from 2007 to 2010 and was Permanent Secretary of the Department for Regional Development from 2010 to 2011.
He has led the civil service through its most radical change programme since the 1970s, overseeing the reduction in the number of government departments from 12 to nine and reducing the size of the civil service by 17 per cent through the voluntary exit scheme.
