An IRA group which was killed during an ambush by the SAS in the Co Armagh village of Loughgall in 1987 was responsible for up to 50 murders, secret government documents have revealed.

Gardaí are appealing to people who were in relationships with members of a local IRA gang behind the savage murder of Paul Quinn 10 years ago to finally come forward.

From the high of the marriage referendum to domestic and foreign threats, and more Garda controversies, it’s been an extraordinary year for justice and law, writes Cormac O’Keeffe

SOME of those well-suited worthies of the right who hope to represent America’s Republican party in next year’s White House race vociferously deny climate change — even if they recognise the science and the evidence behind the phenomenon as valid. 

Crucial talks to save the North's powersharing political institutions are due to begin in Belfast today.

The leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader is recovering after suffering an adverse reaction to medication.

The politicians are still stuck in the endless revolving door of “our tribe against your tribe”, writes Fergus Finlay

The North’s politicians have been called into talks next week to resolve the crisis over IRA activity.

Crunch talks on the North's deteriorating political situation will take place in London and Dublin today.

Senior members of the Ulster Unionist Party have voted to withdraw from the North’s power-sharing government over claims the Provisional IRA (PIRA) still exists.

A crunch meeting where senior members of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) will vote on whether to walk away from Northern Ireland’s powersharing government over claims the Provisional IRA (PIRA) still exists has begun in Belfast.

Evidence of Provisional IRA activity is of sufficient strength to force the exclusion of Sinn Fein from the North’s powersharing government, the Democratic Unionists have insisted.

Sinn Féin finance minister Pearse Doherty has claimed that former members of the Provisional IRA are no threat to the public as they are “getting on with their lives” and just meet “to have a drink”.

The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) said it had no option but to walk away from the North’s power sharing Executive after trust in Sinn Féin broke down.

Cormac O’Keeffe writes that amid the heat and noise of the last week, trying to determine if — and to what extent — the IRA continues to exist has been like trying to grab a wet bar of soap.

The crisis in the North is growing, with statements coming from all sides, but who should we believe?

Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams has insisted the Provisional IRA no longer exists, even in a “benign” criminal gang form alleged in recent days, and that his party has “no special responsibility” over recent murders in Belfast.

The gardaí’s “fresh assessment” of the Provisional IRA will depend entirely on what the PSNI investigation into the murder of former paramilitary Kevin McGuigan reveals, it has emerged.

Even if he serves for another 20 years PSNI Chief Constable George Hamilton will not make a more welcome statement than the one he made on Saturday afternoon saying he believes the Provisional IRA is committed to politics and is not engaged in terrorism.

IF it is established that the Provisional IRA is still a functioning, active entity, happy to murder to achieve its aims or protect its criminal activities, then the people of this island will have to come to terms with one of the greatest betrayals foisted on it by violent nationalism in many, many decades.

With respect to Dolan O’Hagan (‘Political point scoring does a disservice to Máiria Cahill’, October 22) nobody doubts what Derry was like in the 1980s but most of the destruction of the city and its social order was wrought by the Provos.

The Smithwick Tribunal’s inability to name the mole in Dundalk Garda Station in March 1989 casts a shadow over every member of the force who served there, says Michael Clifford.

Diplomats fretted about allowing Iran to open an embassy in Dublin because of its backing for the IRA as well as Fianna Fáil links with high-profile personalities in Iraq, State files have revealed.

Disgraced former garda sergeant Finbarr Hickey spent a year behind bars when convicted of signing counterfeit passports that helped IRA figures go on the run.

The family of a woman murdered and secretly buried by the IRA is to sue the North’s security forces over alleged failures in the handling of the case.

A massive republican criminal enterprise — generating multi-million euro profits annually — has been hit in one of the biggest ever cross-border police operations.

Senior gardaí passed sensitive information to members of the Provisional IRA (Pira) during the Troubles, a major collusion inquiry has been told.

IRA bosses have claimed that false information is being fed to a collusion inquiry into the deaths of two senior RUC officers to bring it to an end.

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin has criticised what he said was an “extraordinary slight” on the legacy of former taoiseach Jack Lynch by reports about the Smithwick Tribunal.

THREE weeks today, we will elect Ireland’s ninth president.

IN 1984, 22-year-old Mary Travers was shot dead by Provisional IRA thugs as she left mass on the Malone Road in Belfast with her parents (who were also targeted but survived).

ONE of the most disturbing and despicable aspects of the present general campaign is the total moral and intellectual cowardice of the media, politicians and the various churches with regard to Sinn Féin.

GARDAÍ had already conceded a month after the funeral of Kerry republican John Joe Sheehy that they would not be able to prosecute those who appeared in paramilitary uniform and fired shots at the ceremonies.

A top loyalist leader heaped praise on Charles Haughey for his stand against the Provisional IRA.

LAST week David McWilliams had his one-man show, Outsiders, in Tralee. I have never been much of a theatre-goer and the idea of spending an hour and a half listening to one person was not particularly appealing, especially when I tend to become decidedly restless, if the priest goes on even for 10 minutes with a Sunday sermon.

VETERAN members of the Provisional IRA have joined senior criminals in taking on two Real IRA brothers who have “upset” the criminal underworld.

A SOPHISTICATED currency counterfeit operation uncovered in rural Co Laois was capable of producing millions of euro notes, gardaí suspect.

Dissident republican groups opposed to the North's peace process are a dangerous threat, but have no support for their actions, a watchdog said today.