Veteran republican suspended from Sinn Féin

Sinn Féin's Francie Molloy has been suspended from the party after publicly disagreeing with its line on local government reform.

The veteran republican from Co Tyrone and former chairman of the Northern Ireland Local Government Association said he was in favour of retaining 15 councils across the North.

Sinn Féin wants to reduce the number of councils from 26 to seven as outlined by the British government.

Mr Molloy said that would effectively mean repartition of the North.

Sinn Féin has not commented on the matter.