Taoiseach Bertie Ahern is to meet British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Friday morning to discuss the early results of the Northern Ireland Assembly elections, it emerged tonight.

A bullet has been sent to the home of a Sinn Féin candidate standing in tomorrow's Northern Ireland Assembly elections.

SINN FÉIN’S move to support the police in the North leaves unionists with no excuse to balk at power sharing, Britain’s Northern Secretary Peter Hain insisted today.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern will today meet Northern Ireland Secretary of State Peter Hain for talks on the forthcoming elections to the Stormont Assembly in Belfast.

WILL the IRA disarm, perhaps even disband, now that Gerry Adams has said it may be necessary? The answer is almost certainly yes.

IAN PAISLEY will quit the European Parliament in June, he announced yesterday.

BERTIE AHERN’S plans to expand Fianna Fáil into Northern Ireland could come to fruition far sooner than expected, as some leading SDLP figures are reportedly seeking a merger with his party.

David Trimble could face a leadership challenge after his party finished second to Ian Paisley’s Democratic Unionists in the Northern Ireland Assembly Elections.

Embattled Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble vowed to fight on today despite his party suffering heavy blows in the Northern Ireland Assembly elections.

Sinn Féin scored a major victory in the Northern Ireland Assembly elections last night by taking three seats in the Newry and Armagh constituency.

A GP demanding a new hospital in a town where terrorists killed 29 people tonight emerged a shock winner in the Northern Ireland Assembly elections.

Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams was today set to repeat his insistence that there can be no renegotiation of Northern Ireland’s 1998 Good Friday agreement.

The Taoiseach says he hopes talks on elections in the North will be wrapped up within the next 48 hours.

NORTHERN Ireland Assembly elections must take place to break the political deadlock, Minister for Foreign Affairs Brian Cowen said yesterday.

Foreign Minister Cowen insisted today that Northern Ireland Assembly elections must take place to break the political deadlock.

Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness today urged the British Prime Minister Tony Blair to ensure that Northern Ireland Assembly elections are held this autumn.

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern was urged yesterday to call a special summit with his British counterpart Tony Blair and demand that Northern Ireland Assembly elections be held this autumn.

United States special envoy to Northern Ireland Richard Haass was having talks in Dublin today with Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and Foreign Minister Brian Cowen.

The Northern Ireland Assembly elections could go ahead in June, SDLP leader Mark Durkan said tonight.

Prime Minister Tony Blair and Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, have much work to do to restore soured political relationships in Northern Ireland, Sinn Fein’s Martin McGuinness said today.

Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams says the Taoiseach must tell British Prime Minister Tony Blair to hold the Northern Ireland Assembly elections as soon as possible.

The IRA has confirmed it will release the statement setting out peace pledges that it gave to the Irish and British governments last month.

The IRA confirmed tonight it would release the statement setting out peace pledges it gave to the British and Irish Government’s last month.

The IRA must issue a new statement before the postponed Northern Ireland Assembly elections are held, Secretary of State Paul Murphy insisted today.

Political Reporter

The Minister for Foreign Affairs Brian Cowen says he believes personal insults about him made by DUP leader Ian Paisley were inappropriate.

THE Northern Ireland Assembly elections are set to go ahead one month from today, even in the absence of further IRA clarifications on its plans.

A WEEK is a long time in politics. A week is twice as long in Northern Ireland politics. The next few weeks will be particularly interesting.

AFTER waiting so long to get live television coverage of his address to a Sinn Féin Ard Fheis, Gerry Adams was generous with his time in the spotlight.

THE British Government has refused to consider any delays in the Northern Ireland Assembly elections, despite Tony Blair's announcement that the poll would be put back four weeks.

The British government refused today to consider any further delays in the Northern Ireland Assembly elections.

THE Irish and British Governments are hoping to agree a definite way forward with the Northern Ireland parties within weeks.

UK Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith has urged Tony Blair to halt the proposed amnesty for Northern Irish terrorists on the run.

US President George W Bush’s special adviser on Northern Ireland tonight condemned David Trimble’s description of the Irish Republic as a ‘‘pathetic sectarian state’’.

Hard-line Democratic Unionists were tonight preparing for new Northern Ireland Assembly elections after predicting that David Trimble’s bid to be restored as First Minister is doomed.