Sinn Féin and the Democratic Unionists are on course to reinforce their grip on power at Stormont, with the republican party closing the gap on their unionist rivals.

Arlene Harris reports on the possible misdiagnosis of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD)

Guinness PRO12 

England 25 Scotland 13

Peter O’Mahony is under no illusions about the size of the task facing the Ireland pack when England rumble into the Aviva Stadium tomorrow afternoon.

RBS Six Nations: England 47 Italy 17: England full-back Mike Brown receives medical attention for a head injury.

Dave Attwood insists England must not allow themselves to be "dazzled by the starlight" when they open their RBS 6 Nations against Wales on Friday night The injury-ravaged 2015 World Cup hosts face a side packed full of British and Irish Lions knowing that defeat would leave them with an uphill struggle to claim a first title under Stuart Lancaster.

A man in his 20s has been shot in the legs in a paramilitary-style punishment shooting.

Gerry Conlon, who was wrongly convicted of the 1974 IRA Guildford pub bombing, has died aged 60, his family have announced.

France 26 England 24

Cross-border co-operation on planning issues could bring economic and social prosperity, it was claimed yesterday.

Veteran councillors standing aside in the shake-up of local government in the North could be in line for a £35,000 (€41,000) payout, the Environment Minister has said.

Many small shop and office owners will no longer have to seek official permission to extend their properties as part of new measures to speed up the planning process in the North.

A volunteer search and rescue unit from Co Cork has found what experts believe may be a scuttled Second World War U-boat on the bottom of Lough Foyle.

A suspected submerged submarine has been discovered in the North, it has been revealed.

The green light for a £100m golf resort on the fringes of the Giant’s Causeway will not endanger the famous landmark’s world heritage designation, Northern Ireland’s Environment Minister has pledged.

A 5p tax on single-use carrier bags will be introduced in the North next year.

Plans for a major redevelopment of Ravenhill rugby stadium have been given the green light, Assembly ministers confirmed today.

The drink-drive limit in the North is to be almost halved for most drivers under the biggest shake-up in the law for 40 years.

Six candidates are contesting the June 9 Belfast West Commons by-election to choose a successor to Sinn Féin’s Gerry Adams.

The Ulster Unionists and the SDLP have failed to challenge the British government over the cuts being imposed on Stormont, Martin McGuinness has said.

Bath have announced the signing of international England lock Dave Attwood on a two-year contract from their Aviva Premiership rivals Gloucester.

Louis Deacon has been recalled to the England squad for the RBS 6 Nations as a replacement for banned Gloucester lock Dave Attwood.

WALES and Cardiff scrum-half Richie Rees looks set to miss the entire RBS 6 Nations campaign after being handed a 12-week ban by an independent European Rugby Cup disciplinary panel for making contact with the eye of Northampton hooker Dylan Hartley in a Heineken Cup match last month.

England and Gloucester lock Dave Attwood has received a nine-week ban after being cited for stamping on La Rochelle prop Petrisor Toderasc during an Amlin Challenge Cup game last month.

MUNSTER have lodged their appeal against the four week ERC ban handed to Paul O’Connell for his Heineken Cup sending off against the Ospreys at Thomond Park.

Flats where a west Belfast man was killed are to be demolished, it was revealed today.

Two stamping charges against England lock Dave Attwood were dismissed on procedural grounds this morning, the Australian Rugby Union have confirmed.

England lock Dave Attwood has been cited over two alleged stamping incidents in today’s 28-28 draw with the Australian Barbarians.

The Pope has today accepted the resignation of a Tipperary-born Archbishop.

The 50:50 recruitment scheme for Catholics and Protestants entering the PSNI must continue if a balanced service is to be delivered, nationalists claimed today.

Newport Gwent Dragons 23 Gloucester 32

The North’s political leaders continued to strive for a breakthrough in crunch talks over devolving policing powers to Stormont tonight.

Members of the Stormont committee examining the devolution of policing powers from Westminster today demanded sight of the financial deal that British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is offering to support the move.

Members of all political parties will be asked to back IRA victims’ compensation case against Libya during the first session of the Northern Ireland Assembly today.

Prosecutors achieved a 97.7% conviction rate in the North's magistrates' courts last year, it was revealed today.

Murdered IRA victim Danny McIlhone will finally be laid to rest with his mother and father almost 30 years after his disappearance, his family said today.

Human rights experts should be drafted-in to bolster the ranks of civil servants in any new North Department of Justice, it was claimed today.

First Minister Peter Robinson and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness have been called before a Stormont committee to explain their plans for a new justice ministry.

Nearly 2,000 pupils were evacuated from two west Belfast schools today when a major fire broke out in the former Bass Ireland brewery.

Sinn Féin would favour two ministers of equal standing taking charge of any future Department of Justice at Stormont, a senior figure in its Assembly team revealed today.

FERGUS FINLAY’S analysis of the recent Northern election results (Irish Examiner, March 13), particularly that achieved by Sinn Féin in the West Belfast constituency, was amusing.

Democratic Unionists and Sinn Féin were accused tonight of playing a game of pass the parcel over the policing issue in the North.

The British government was today urged to allow a new advisory forum on a Bill of Rights in the North the chance to set the standards for other nations.

A Stormont committee will have four weeks to resolve the row between the DUP leader Ian Paisley and Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams over the transfer of policing and justice powers from Westminster, it emerged today.

The Orange Order faced new demands today to end its boycott on dealing with the Northern Parades Commission.

MI5 did not deprive police of any anti-terrorism intelligence during their investigation into the Omagh bomb atrocity, the North’s chief constable said today.

A woman killed in a hit-and-run outside a west Belfast pub was struck by a red car, police said tonight.

The British government and the SDLP clashed tonight over claims the party had failed to submit proposals for state funded neighbourhood justice schemes in Northern Ireland.