HOPES of a power-sharing deal in the North rose dramatically last night as Ian Paisley appeared unusually upbeat over a devolution breakthrough.

The British Army is pulling all its troops out of the notorious IRA stronghold of South Armagh within weeks, according to a report today.

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

UUP Assemblyman the Rev Dr Robert Coulter is to run for March’s Assembly elections in the North.

The North's Secretary of State Peter Hain today shifted the onus for restoring devolution in Northern Ireland onto Ian Paisley’s Democratic Unionists as he praised Sinn Féin’s advance towards an historic endorsement of policing.

The British government is due to publish new legislation today giving effect to the St Andrew's proposals for restoring devolution in the North.

THE fundamentalist organisers of the ‘Free the DUP from Secularism’ campaign need have no fear that the party’s main movers are out of touch with the Lord.

Northern Ireland could be facing fresh Assembly elections if the DUP and Sinn Féin fail to reach agreement on a peace deal, it emerged today.

Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams has called on the British government to call fresh Assembly elections in the North if the impasse on restoring devolved government continues until the end of this month.

Practical politics must be adopted if a deal is to be struck to restart Northern Ireland‘s power-sharing regime, it was claimed today.

A bitter row erupted tonight between rival unionist parties in Northern Ireland as the Irish and British governments planned a fresh push to restore the Stormont Assembly.

Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble was tonight challenged to release details of the agreement he reached with Sinn Féin during last autumn’s failed peace process deal.

ULSTER UNIONIST leader David Trimble yesterday suffered a setback when almost half of his Northern Ireland Assembly group backed a letter querying whether he should stay at the party helm.

THE SDLP spent nearly 10 times as much as Sinn Féin in last year's Assembly elections and still ended up being beaten into second place for the nationalist vote for the first time.

The vilification of Sinn Féin illustrates the gulf between the political elite and ordinary working people, the party’s annual conference was told tonight.

Former SDLP leader John Hume has announced at a press conference in Belfast that he is to stand down as an MEP at the June elections.

A Sinn Féin MP tonight vowed to use his visit to a forum of world leaders next week to urge the British and Irish Governments to implement the Good Friday Agreement.

Sinn Féin is likely to snub an invitation to meet a new commission which is monitoring paramilitary activity in Northern Ireland, a senior party figure revealed tonight.

IAN Paisley insisted yesterday there was “no way” his hardline Democratic Unionist Party would ever sit in government with Sinn Féin.

Ian Paisley today insisted there was “no way” his Democratic Unionist Party would ever sit in government with Sinn Féin.

Tony Blair is set to urge Northern Ireland’s political leaders to break the peace process deadlock during meetings in London this week.

The British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, says the majority of people in the North do want devolved Government again at Stormont.

THE hope expressed by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern at the weekend that the planned review of the Good Friday Agreement early in the new year will resolve some of the problems created in the aftermath of the Assembly elections is one that must be reinforced by the British Government.

Bertie Ahern has called on the people of Northern Ireland to use their vote in tomorrow’s Assembly elections, stressing the importance of the Good Friday Agreement.

The people of Northern Ireland must “play their part” in its future by turning out to vote in Wednesday’s Assembly elections, Tony Blair said today.

A cross-community group of business trade unions, voluntarily and farming leaders have come together to urge people to get out and vote in the Assembly elections on Wednesday.

The Labour leader, Pat Rabbitte, is travelling North today to canvass support for the SDLP in next week's Assembly elections.

The problems of sectarianism in Northern Ireland were due to become a major campaign issue today as Northern Ireland’s politicians prepared for the final day of nominations for this month’s Assembly elections.

THE IRA last night said it would refuse to make any further moves on disarmament until commitments made by Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble and the Irish Governments to restore the institutions were honoured in full.

It will be “essential” for republicans to stick “very clearly” to their commitment to peaceful means in the run-up to the Northern Ireland elections if the peace process is to get back on track, Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble warned today.

The Democratic Unionist Party has claimed that re-negotiation of the Good Friday Agreement will be inevitable after the Assembly elections in the North next month.

The situation in the North is much too serious to allow the current uncertainty to drag on.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair faced fresh demands today to release details of the IRA’s latest act of disarmament.

Northern Ireland’s SDLP was today expected to vent its frustration over its exclusion from recent talks to revitalise the peace process during a meeting with the Government.

Richard Haass, the US Government’s special envoy to the North, has delayed a planned trip to Belfast today so he can attend talks between the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, and British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern believes there will be Northern Assembly elections in November, he said today.

The Taoiseach was today due to meet British Prime Minister Tony Blair in Rome following calls on them to redraw their plans for reviving the Northern Ireland Assembly.

THE Irish and British governments last night stuck by their plan for reviving devolution in the North despite the Ulster Unionists rejecting it at a party meeting.

The pace of political talks in the North has led to speculation that the British government is planning to hold Assembly elections on November 13.

Northern Ireland Secretary Paul Murphy tonight insisted that a new monitoring body for the Good Friday Agreement and paramilitary ceasefires should provide enough confidence to revive the peace process.

NORTHERN IRELAND parties still want elections sooner rather than later, the Taoiseach said yesterday, but the same obstacles remain to be overcome.

The British government must inject fresh momentum into Northern Ireland’s peace process by setting a firm date for Assembly elections, Sinn Fein’s Martin McGuinness said today.

Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams has reiterated his call for the British government to announce a date for Assembly elections in the North.

Sinn Féin MP Pat Doherty has called on the British Government to end its "patronage" of the Ulster Unionist Party.