Polling is underway in the North as the British general election gets underway. It is the seventh time in three years voters in the North have cast a ballot.

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.

Update 9.45am: Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan has said that said that neither Dublin nor London are to blame for the Stormont crisis.

A new power-sharing executive will be formed in Northern Ireland after an independent Assembly member agreed to fill the contentious justice ministry. East Derry MLA Claire Sugden has been unveiled as the agreed Democratic Unionist and Sinn Féin candidate.

The North’s First Minister has said he has no plans to step down.

Peter Robinson has signalled his intent to lead the DUP into the next Assembly election and beyond, insisting he has not contemplated a life beyond politics.

SDLP leader Margaret Ritchie could face a second challenger after South Belfast MP Alasdair McDonnell said he is being urged to step forward.

The leader of the North's Ulster Unionist Party was under pressure tonight after branding Sinn Féin “scum” in an election count outburst.

THE DUP and Sinn Féin are poised for resounding success in the North’s Assembly elections, with predictions of significant losses for the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP).

DUP leader Peter Robinson topped the poll in Belfast East, and has been elected on the first count in the Northern Ireland Assembly elections.

Sinn Féin pressed ahead with the launch of its Assembly election campaign today, insisting that dissident republicans must not be allowed to hold the political process hostage.

Reg Empey today confirmed he will step down as Ulster Unionist leader in the autumn after a disappointing election campaign.

THE leaders of Northern Ireland’s two main unionist parties were last night fighting for their political lives after the DUP’s Peter Robinson and the Ulster Unionists’ Reg Empey suffered humiliating defeats.

WHILE Westminster minds are focused on the formation of a new UK government, politicians in the North are today wondering if the election results could destabilise their own coalition administration.

IT’S 125 years old this year and if some reports are to be believed, the Orange Card is still the one the British Tories feel should be played. It was Sir Randolph Churchill, Winston’s father, who coined the phrase in the aftermath of the 1885 election and it continues to have a chilly resonance for nationalists.

It has been a long apprenticeship. However today Peter Robinson finally got the chance to take over as leader of the North’s most successful political party, the Democratic Unionists, after 28 years of being the Rev Ian Paisley’s understudy.

The SDLP spent the most money of any party on the March Assembly election in the North, according to figures published by the Electoral Commission.

Furious supporters of Ulster Unionist leader Reg Empey tonight accused elements within the party of trying to destabilise his leadership.

Former Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble is to join the Conservative Party in the House of Lords, it emerged tonight.

Ian Paisley and Gerry Adams could hold their first face-to-face meeting today as their parties try to keep devolution hopes alive in the North.

Ian Paisley could hold his first face-to-face meeting with Gerry Adams in a bid to keep devolution hopes alive in the North, it was claimed tonight.

The Ulster Unionist Party has paid the price for its arrogant treatment of former members in the North’s Assembly Election, it was claimed tonight.

Northern Secretary Peter Hain today faced fresh trade union demands to put on hold the introduction of controversial water charges in the North next month.

The North’s politicians were tonight reporting an above-average turnout at the polls even before the traditional surge of voters in the Assembly Election.

One of Northern Secretary Peter Hain’s key advisers is leaving Belfast to concentrate on the Labour minister’s bid to become Deputy Leader, it emerged tonight.

An opinion poll in the North has suggested that the DUP and Sinn Féin will maintain their positions as the North's main political parties after the upcoming Assembly election.

The Democratic Unionists and Sinn Féin will today focus on the controversial issue of water charges in the North as the Assembly Election enters its final stage.

Green Party leader Trevor Sargent and Labour Party deputy leader Liz McManus are in the North today to lend their support to their local colleague's Assembly election campaigns.

The cross-community Alliance Party will today call for public funds spent on segregating society in the North to be diverted to projects that benefit both communities.

Former Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy will today lend his support to the cross community Alliance Party in its bid for Northern Assembly seats.

Sinn Féin or the British government will be at fault if there is any delay to power-sharing in the North, the Democratic Unionists insisted today.

Nominations for the North's Assembly Elections will close today, effectively sounding the starting pistol in the race for Stormont seats.

The North’s Assembly Election campaign will today go up several gears as candidates lodge their nomination papers for the March 7 poll.

Politicians were today facing a grilling from members of the North’s voluntary and community sector.

DUP leader Ian Paisley has formally launched the party's Assembly election campaign in Belfast today.

The DUP has confirmed that all its candidates in the upcoming Assembly election will be expected to sign a letter promising that they will resign if they break party rules.

The republican movement needs to move quickly to build unionist confidence if there is to be power-sharing in the North this spring, Sinn Féin was warned today.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and British Prime Minister Tony Blair will today review the prospects of securing power-sharing at Stormont in March.

More than 40,000 voters will be added to the electoral register in the North in time to allow them to vote in the Assembly election, it was announced today.

Political parties in the North were today challenged to commit themselves to an Assembly election pledge to repeal the water charges law once devolution returns.

The British government may be forced to pull the plug in the new year on plans for an Assembly election in the North because of the deadlock over policing, ministers were warned today.

Over 80,000 people wiped off Northern Ireland's annual electoral register were today urged to demand their votes back in time for the next Assembly election.

Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain could be making a mistake in setting March 7 as the date for a fresh Assembly election, he was warned today.

THE North’s next Assembly election could be delayed for a year if power-sharing is restored by November, the British Government signalled yesterday.