Foreign Minister Charlie Flanagan has rejected claims from the North's police chief that weaker immigration checks in the Republic of Ireland are providing a route for international criminals to enter the UK.

The economic transformation of Irish border communities brought by the peace process has been put at risk by Brexit, MPs in England have been told.

An inquiry into the fate of the Irish border as Britain prepares to leave the European Union has been launched by a parliamentary watchdog at Westminster.

Internal borders within the UK would be anathema to unionists, a minister in the North has warned.

The island of Ireland may be seen as a “safe haven” destination for overseas visitors this year due to security concerns about other parts of Europe, a tourism chief has predicted.

Banks in the North should use their profits to update “antiquated” IT systems which failed leaving thousands of customers unable to use their accounts, a report from politicians said.

Tony Blair is due to give evidence before a parliamentary investigation into the On The Runs (OTRs) scheme for fugitive IRA members later today.

Police intelligence officers withheld some information from detectives investigating the Omagh bombing in which 29 people were killed, a new probe has found.

Republicans who received letters from the British government assuring them they were not being sought by the authorities can no longer rely on them, the Northern Ireland Secretary has announced.

A Police Ombudsman investigation into the Omagh bombing which killed 29 people will be published imminently, it was revealed.

A Police Ombudsman investigation into a bombing in Northern Ireland which killed 29 people will be published imminently, it was revealed.

Three fugitive republicans previously wanted by police in connection with conflict-related investigations were confirmed as “cleared” at the start of March, Sinn Féin claimed.

Former Northern Ireland first minister Lord Trimble is to brief MPs about the sending of letters to republican fugitives which assured them they were not wanted by police.

The head of the Ulster Bank has warned of future branch closures in response to a huge ongoing shift towards on-line banking.

Toxic loans at Ulster Bank make up nearly a quarter of the £38bn of bad debts being hived off into the new internal “bad” bank at RBS.

A fifth of major bank branches in the North have closed over the last two years, it was disclosed.

More police officers are needed in the North to deal with the relentless pressure the force faces, the PSNI chief constable has said.

A powerful committee of British MPs has expressed bitter disappointment at the lack of progress on new measures to tackle fuel fraud in the North.

New evidence on the Omagh bombing has emerged to strengthen calls for an international inquiry into the atrocity, bereaved families have said.

NORTHERN Ireland may have grounds to reduce its corporation tax rate to the same level or below that of the Republic of Ireland, a committee of British lawmakers said in a report published yesterday.

The Bloody Sunday inquiry which cost nearly £200m (€227.7m) could not have been done "on the cheap", its author, Mark Saville, said today.

The Parades Commission in the North will be reappointed in January if local politicians fail to reach agreement on controversial marches, Northern Ireland Secretary Owen Paterson said today.

Tackling the North's crippling legal aid bill and dealing with problems in the prison system should be top priorities for the region's new Justice Minister, a Westminster Committee said today.

A major review of proposals for a Bill of Rights for the North was suspended until after the British general election, it was announced today.

Families of Omagh bomb victims hit out at the British government today for censoring an official probe that examined whether vital intelligence was withheld from detectives hunting the Omagh bombers.

A new investigation must be set up to examine whether British authorities withheld vital intelligence from detectives hunting the Omagh bombers, a parliamentary report said today.

The British government insulted MPs trying to scrutinise a key Omagh bomb report when it denied full access, an influential House of Commons committee said today.

Police Special Branch in the North was aware of intelligence information on the Omagh bomb soon after the atrocity, the former ombudsman claimed today.

ONE of the North’s most powerful political committees has called for an all-island sex offenders’ register to track offenders moving between the two jurisdictions – but claims Ireland’s inferior laws might be a barrier.

A House of Commons committee has backed calls for the establishment of an all-Ireland sex offenders list as part of greater co-operation on criminal justice matters in the North and the Republic.

Two policemen refused to give evidence to a high-level probe into Omagh bomb intelligence in the North, it was revealed today.

Loyalist paramilitaries could be moving towards decommissioning their weapons, the North's Secretary of State Shaun Woodward said today.

Relatives of the Omagh bomb victims are due to meet British MPs today as part of their battle for a public inquiry into the Real IRA attack.

Controversial plans to deal with the legacy of the Troubles are to be examined by a group of Westminster MPs, it was announced today.

The decision to delay publication of the Bloody Sunday report in the North is deeply disappointing, a committee of MPs said today.

The head of the Bloody Sunday Inquiry has told a Westminster Committee he cannot meet it to explain the delay in his 10-year investigation, it emerged today.

The security operation mounted for the military homecoming parade in Belfast cost more than £300,000 (€372,000), police revealed today.

A parliamentary committee in London has criticised the resources being expended on investigating unsolved murders that happened during the Troubles in the North.

The decision to withhold a police report on security force collusion in paramilitary murders could be challenged in court, it was revealed today.

The Northern Ireland Assembly is to debate claims that current and former Provisional IRA members murdered Paul Quinn.

A Westminster committee is recommending that loyalist and republican prisoners in the North should be housed together instead of in separate wings.

Female inmates in the North are losing out hand-over-fist because of the prison service’s “sticking plaster” approach to modernising jails, a committee of MPs has heard.

Controversial neighbourhood justice schemes in the North should be vetted to prevent people with criminal or paramilitary links since 1998 working in them, a committee of MPs urged today.