After every public disaster there is inevitably an outcry and safety standards are tightened until complacency again sets in with the passage of time.

The Government must stick to its pledge to set up a National Fire Authority, union leaders insisted today.

A senior member of Northern Ireland’s Fire Authority has quit after a row with union chiefs, it was revealed today.

Nearly 40 firefighters in the North could have lost their jobs if a pay deal to end their strike had been accepted, employers claimed today.

A major new row flared today in talks to end the firefighters’ strike over claims that Northern Ireland employers have been shut out of negotiations.

The Northern Ireland Police Service tonight denied a ban on disabled people joining the police amounted to discrimination.