On Raglan Road on an autumn day... the strains of ‘The Mexican Hat Dance’ took on the air of an Irish folk tune.

A loyalist leader and 13 of his alleged associates are due in the dock today as one of the biggest paramilitary murder trials in decades begins in the North.

With our water distribution systems nationwide leaking like a huge sieve I should imagine that the installation of water meters should be at the bottom of the list for any sane thinking Government. Such meters would become totally unworkable with the next cold spell.

UP to 150 priests are expected to gather in Portlaoise today for the inaugural meeting of the Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) — a reform-driven organisation which is aiming to “stand for moral courage”.

ON Sunday, August 17, in the company of the Mayor of Kilkenny at Rothe House in one of his final official engagements in this State, the British ambassador to Ireland Mr David Reddaway raised the political temperature somewhat by referring to the ‘imminent’ visit to the Republic of Ireland by Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II.

THE mother of a teenager awaiting surgery for a spine deformation is considering legal action against the HSE as she claims a proposed screening programme at her daughter’s school never went ahead.

Pressure is growing today for a public inquiry into the Omagh bombing after it was claimed British intelligence chiefs recorded the bombers mobile phone calls on the day of the attack.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern will meet the former Northern Ireland Police Ombudsman, Nuala O’Loan, in Dublin later today.

“BIG seas, strong winds but a beautiful coastline” is how one diary entry describes the experiences of the team that is set to make history as the first to swim around the entire country.

Gerry Adams today appealed to witnesses to a fatal road accident in west Belfast involving a police Land Rover to help Northern Ireland’s Police Ombudsman establish what exactly happened.

ALLOW me to correct misunderstandings of Amnesty International's call for an independent investigation of the incident in Lusk last week.

Police were warned the IRA planned to bomb Newry on the same day they murdered a woman officer in the town, outside investigators have discovered.

Police in Northern Ireland tonight faced legal action for launching a new investigation into a loyalist sectarian murder nearly seven years ago just as they were officially condemned for failures in the first murder probe.

GREEN MEP Nuala Ahern yesterday announced she will not be contesting next June’s European elections, opening the way for a fierce battle in Leinster.

The new head of the Omagh bomb investigation is to face tough questions from victims’ relatives when he meets them for the first time next week.

All the terrorists who bombed Omagh can still be brought to justice after the police inquiry in Northern Ireland is given new leadership, a senior British detective claimed today.

The North’s police service has revealed that its chief constable, Ronnie Flanagan, held talks with police ombudsman Nuala O’Loan yesterday to discuss their feud over the report into the police handling of the Omagh bomb investigation.

The political parties in Northern Ireland have been given until Tuesday to decide if they will accept or reject the new-look police service as set out in the Government’s latest implementation plan.