The Royal Society of Ulster Architects (RUSA) has described the latest fall in Northern Ireland's private sector construction activity as "another alarm bell for the wider economy".

Official statistics published on Thursday revealed construction output in NI for the first quarter of 2018 fell by 6% over the last 12 months.

The fall was driven by a marked slump in private sector activity, which was down 12% when compared with the same quarter last year. However, public sector work increased by 3% over the same period.

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RSUA Director, Ciarán Fox, said the fall "suggests that Brexit and the absence of devolved Government has knocked private sector confidence and that investment is being held back as a result".

"Whilst public sector output has held up well over the last year we have serious concerns about the next 12 months due to uncertainty over which publicly funded projects are going to proceed to design stage and then on to site," he said.

"It is now vitally important that public sector clients provide specific details of which construction projects can proceed without Ministerial approval and which ones cannot."

(LM/MH)