A row between Ulster Unionists and Northern Secretary Peter Hain over plans for a Stormont justice minister escalated tonight as the party published the British government’s proposal on the internet.

DUP leader Ian Paisley has warned that time is running out for Sinn Féin to prove its bona fides on policing.

The DUP's deputy leader has said any move to allow IRA "on-the-runs" to return to the North could scupper efforts to restore power-sharing government in the North.

Veteran unionist politician Jim Wilson is to bow out of the Stormont Assembly at the next election, he announced tonight.

The May 2008 target date set by the British government for the transfer of policing and justice powers to Stormont carries no weight, according to the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).

The head of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission should be removed from office, Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Ian Paisley claimed today.

Plans to retain search, arrest and entry powers for British troops in the North despite the improved security situation came under fire in the British parliment today.

Plans for an Irish Language Act will outrage the "vast majority" of people in the North, Democratic Unionists warned the British prime minister Tony Blair today.

Paramilitary groups must go out of business in the North and stop issuing death threats to all people including civil servants, a senior nationalist politician said today.

An Irish Government official whose life was threatened by loyalist paramilitaries has resumed work in Belfast.

Prison chiefs have agreed to transfer an Irish soldier who murdered three colleagues back to a jail in the North, it emerged today.

Ian Paisley's daughter is pressing ahead with legal action against her father's Democratic Unionist Party for alleged sexual discrimination, an industrial tribunal heard today.

An investigation team is to be set up in London to probe alleged state involvement in sectarian murders in the North, it emerged today.

A US academic today spoke of his shock at the extent of apparent security force collusion in loyalist paramilitary murders in the North.

A human rights investigation has found 'credible evidence' of police and British Army collusion in 74 sectarian murders during the Troubles in the North.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern is playing down reports that the Government is to make €1bn in aid available for the North.

Tony Blair stood by his deadline for striking a deal over devolution in the North after holding talks with Bertie Ahern today.

Bertie Ahern and Tony Blair will hold talks today as pressure intensifies to get a deal for devolution in the North.

Catholics in the North still face inequality in employment and housing, according to a report due to be published today by a leading human rights watchdog.

The poorest members of society in the North, both Catholic and Protestant, are worse off than they were a decade ago despite British government rhetoric to the contrary, it was claimed today.

Security alerts today forced the closure of the main road and rail links between the Republic and the North of Ireland.

British MPs were debating a Lords change to the Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill today which sought to remove “permissible donor” provisions from the legislation.

Controversial community-based restorative justice schemes cannot operate in the North without direct police involvement, according to new British government guidelines today.

Reg Empey’s Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) were in the red by almost £500,000 (€730,480) last year, it was revealed today.

A British House of Lords move to bar parties in the North from raising funds south of the border flies in the face of the Good Friday Agreement, it was claimed today.

Sinn Féin have boycotted this afternoon's session of the Stormont assembly, which is discussing the Northern economy.

Northern Secretary Peter Hain has said Sinn Féin is in a stronger position than the PUP to demand seats in any new power-sharing Executive at Stormont.

Northern Ireland Assembly members will stage their first debate today since Stormont was recalled for business after three and a half years.

Sinn Féin will bid to have the Reverend Ian Paisley nominated as Northern Ireland First Minister when the North’s Assembly is reconvened next week, Gerry Adams insisted today.

Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams will today signal his party’s reluctance to get caught in a Stormont Assembly that amounts to little more than a talking shop.

The British government was warned today that its long-term aim of transferring responsibility for public housing in Northern Ireland to seven local ‘super councils’ was fraught with political danger.

The British government has announced plans to more than halve the number of unelected public bodies operating in the North.

The British government must make people suspected of offences in the North appear in court before being granted an amnesty, Conservative leader David Cameron insisted today.

The British government’s Northern Ireland (Offences) Bill will remain a perverse piece of legislation if ministers fail to link it to the return of individuals exiled by paramilitaries, it was claimed today.

Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams was accused of hypocrisy today after demanding no amnesty for police officers and soldiers involved in terrorist killings.

There are renewed expectations in the North this morning that the Loyalist Volunteer Force may be about to issue a statement disbanding itself.

Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain is expected to announce plans for a shake-up of the Policing Board in a House of Commons statement tomorrow.

The DUP said today that the prospects of a return to devolution in the North had been damaged considerably by the actions of the British government since last week's IRA statement.

Ian Paisley will today urge the British Government to ban Sinn Féin from any future power-sharing administration in Northern Ireland.

Police and soldiers moved into a Belfast estate today after loyalist paramilitaries forced families to flee their homes.

Members of the Ulster Volunteer Force are openly patrolling the Garnerville area of east Belfast today as part of a deepening feud with the rival Loyalist Volunteer Force.

Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams has reiterated his call on the British government to free Shankill bomber Sean Kelly.

Unionists and nationalists have said former British Prime Minister Edward Heath will not be remembered fondly by the people of Northern Ireland.

A suspect arrested after a man was hit by a car and killed in a nightclub car park has been released on bail, police said today.