The United States special envoy to Northern Ireland Richard Haass today threw his support behind a mechanism for monitoring paramilitary activity in the province.

BRITISH Prime Minister Tony Blair must prove he is the guardian of the peace process this week by bringing pressure to bear on republican paramilitaries to implement a "clear and unambiguous" ceasefire, David Trimble said yesterday.

Residents of Belfast are today marking the 30th anniversary of Bloody Friday, when nine people were killed and more than 100 injured in a spate of IRA bombings across the city.

Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams said today he had never been a member of the IRA.

THE implications of the change of tone in the outpourings of the usually defiant 'P O'Neill' will be carefully considered in the coming days.

Political Reporter Fionnán Sheehan finds the IRA's apology to its victims was a valuable gesture.

FRIDAY, July 21, 1972, was one of the most notorious dates in the violent history of the Troubles.

THE IRA's unprecedented apology to civilian victims of the Troubles can help deliver lasting peace in Northern Ireland, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said last night.

THE families of some of the victims of IRA violence welcomed the IRA apology and said this latest move gave the peace process renewed hope.

UUP leader David Trimble has told the House of Commons that the IRA apology for Bloody Friday is an effort to pre-empt a newspaper article.

The IRA has been responsible for death and terror both in Northern Ireland and on mainland Britain for more than three decades.

The IRA tonight apologised for the killing of all ‘‘non-combatants’’ who died during its campaign of terror.

Sinn Fein demands for equality of symbols and emblems at Stormont would lead to memorials celebrating IRA violence, it was claimed tonight.

The Saville inquiry into the Bloody Sunday shootings will cost £150m, Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble claimed last night.