A top loyalist was heavily involved in handing over £40,000 (€59,000) worth of stolen industrial equipment to police, it emerged today.

The family of murdered Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane are to press for a meeting with the Reverend Ian Paisley’s Democratic Unionists as part of their campaign for an inquiry acceptable to them, they revealed tonight.

LOYALIST terror groups were last night urged to follow the lead of the Loyalist Volunteer Force following its declaration that it was standing down its military units.

FLAGS have been taken down and murals painted over ahead of a loyalist paramilitary organisation’s anticipated disbandment.

The Loyalist Volunteer Force, set up in 1996 by notorious murderer Billy Wright, could reportedly be on the verge of disbanding.

A man has been arrested in connection with a murder linked to the bitter loyalist feud.

When Mo Mowlam became Northern Ireland Secretary, she may well have had her hero Winston Churchill in mind – and his declaration that history would be kind to him because he intended to write it.

Senior British judges faced new demands today to boycott an inquiry into the murder of Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane.

The loyalist Ulster Defence Association has been blamed for the attempted murder of a 22-year-old man in the Waterside area of Derry yesterday morning.

Assembly committees should be established to scrutinise the work of direct rule ministers in Northern Ireland, the British government was told today.

Five men appeared in a Northern Ireland court today charged with membership of the loyalist Ulster Volunteer Force, possession of equipment for carrying out acts of terrorism, and conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm.

One of the most contentious loyalist parades in the North’s marching season passed off peacefully at west Belfast peace line today.

A BELFAST judge yesterday refused to overturn the prison sentence of Johnny “Mad Dog” Adair, Northern Ireland’s notorious Loyalist leader.

Feared loyalist paramilitary boss Johnny Adair today showed his support for a close associate who appeared in court on gun charges.

Three men were today shot and injured in what bore all the hallmarks of a loyalist sectarian gun attack in north Belfast.

A COMMISSION which includes loyalist paramilitaries yesterday called on republican terror groups to join them in achieving calm along sectarian flashpoint areas.

The British Army has set about increasing the height of the security walls throughout Belfast after further violent clashes between Nationalist and Loyalist groups during the week.

Belfast erupted in sectarian violence for the fourth night in a row after loyalist and republican gunmen wounded three people.

The loyalist Progressive Unionist Party may quit the Northern Ireland Assembly over the crisis threatening to engulf the peace process, it emerged today.

There are to be no mail collections or deliveries in the North on Monday following the killing of a postal worker by Loyalist paramilitaries today.

The American Government has recommended outlawing Loyalist and Republican paramilitary groups opposed to the Good Friday Agreement, it emerged today.

The Loyalist paramilitary group styling itself 'The Red Hand Defenders' has claimed responsibility for the attack today on a children's playgroup in north Belfast.

Shots were fired, petrol bombs thrown and police officers injured when sectarian street violence in Belfast turned into serious rioting overnight.

A huge arms cache discovered in Northern Ireland after a van loaded with cigarettes was hijacked could be linked to the Loyalist Volunteer Force, it emerged today.

The loyalist Ulster Defence Association is today suspected of involvement in the murder of a man whose body was discovered on the outskirts of south Belfast.