Ryan McKane was only 10 at the time but can still remember his parents having an angry discussion over what should happen next.

The family of murdered solicitor Pat Finucane has accused the British government of stalling on a decision to hold a public inquiry into one of the most infamous killings of the Troubles.

THE reported wreath-laying ceremony by Queen Elizabeth at the Irish War Memorial Gardens at Islandbridge taking place on May 17, the 37th anniversary of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings, is a further insult to those who lost their lives at the hands of loyalist murder gangs.

The Long Road Home

THE Ulster Defence Association (UDA) was established in 1971 as a cover name for several loyalist organisations.

Notorious loyalist killer Torrens Knight was tonight arrested in the North and his release from prison suspended, Northern Ireland Prison Service said.

Loyalist paramilitary groups in the North have destroyed their weapons and pledged to respect democratic rule, it was announced today.

Three loyalist paramilitary groups in the North have started to decommission their weapons after painstaking behind-the-scenes efforts to secure disarmament.

Disgruntled members of the North’s two largest loyalist paramilitary groups have carried out attacks as the organisations move slowly away from violence, it was claimed today.

THE decision by the UDA to declare its war is over and to disband its cover group, the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF), was long overdue. Its announcement was followed by the assertion of a former UDA killer, Kenny McClinton, that “people in loyalist circles are driven by ideals and the defence of their country” and that the only reason the UDA ever existed was “to defend the loyalist community”.

The loyalist Ulster Defence Association must prove its vow to end all criminality and paramilitarism is for real, Martin McGuinness insisted today.

The Taoiseach is describing today's statement by the Ulster Defence Association as ‘significant’.

The UDA has announced that its military wing, the UFF, is standing down all of its units from midnight tonight.

Loyalists in the North should decommission their weapons and disband their terror machines, one of their most notorious former leaders said tonight.

Is there one place that whenever you hear its name, you automatically associate with Protestantism, loyalism and unionism?

DRAWN into militant loyalism from an early age, Michael Stone, 50, joined the infamous loyalist Tartan Gang at the age of 13 and by the age of 16 he had already been held in Belfast’s Crumlin Road jail for possession of firearms and membership of the Ulster Defence Association.

The murder of a top loyalist paramilitary was as barbaric as anything inflicted by the notorious Shankill Butchers gang 30 years ago, a Belfast inquest heard today.

Margaret Thatcher was warned the British Army suspected the Ulster Defence Regiment was heavily infiltrated by Protestant extremists in the North four years before she became UK Prime Minister, it was claimed today.

DERMOT HACKETT was 37 years of age when, on May 23, 1987, he was gunned down as he drove his bread van along the Omagh to Drumquin road. He was hit by 15 bullets from a sub machine gun and was killed instantly.

Northern Ireland Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde is seeking to have top loyalist Ihab Shoukri sent back to prison, it was revealed tonight.

LOYALIST killer Torrens Knight was a double agent shielded by the Special Branch before he murdered eight people in the Greysteel massacre, SDLP Assembly member John Dallat claimed yesterday.

Irish emigrants are more at risk of going to prison in Britain due to the advent of tough sentencing policies, it was claimed today.

FIFA officials have potentially set a precedent for overruling refereeing decisions after ordering Uzbekistan’s World Cup qualifier against Bahrain to be replayed.

SINN FÉIN president Gerry Adams will today join in a Dáil picket demanding an independent public inquiry into the murder of Donegal councillor Eddie Fullerton.

THE world stooped to a new level of brutality last year with increasingly shocking acts of terrorism, Amnesty International said yesterday.

The murder of Belfast man Robert McCartney was cowardly and nakedly evil, Justice Minister Michael McDowell said tonight.

Milltown Cemetery killer Michael Stone has been questioned about plots to murder prominent political figures during the 1980s, it emerged today.

Dan McGinn

Two teenage girls were facing life in prison today after being found guilty of the murder of a middle-aged man they accused of making an indecent proposal during a party.

The British government’s recognition of the Ulster Defence Association’s ceasefire officially came into effect today.

Northern Ireland's largest loyalist paramilitary group The Ulster Defence Association today pledged to end all violence and work towards complete disarmament.

Ken Barrett - who today pleased guilty to the murder of Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane - just nodded when asked to confirm his identity in court today, but when a series of charges, including Mr Finucane’s murder, were put to him, he replied quietly: “Guilty.”

A LOYALIST paramilitary working as a British security force agent was involved in a double murder during a bloody feud, it was claimed yesterday.

The Taoiseach has welcomed the extension to the UDA ceasefire.

Two men cleared of being involved with loyalist terrorist groups were facing lengthy jail sentences today after being convicted of firearms offences.

A LOYALIST paramilitary group yesterday issued a chilling threat against the North’s prison officers.

LOYALIST terror group the Ulster Freedom Fighters yesterday issued a warning to the wife of jailed paramilitary boss Johnny “Mad Dog” Adair to stay out of Northern Ireland.

YOUR editorial comment on the tit-for-tat violence following the publication of the Middle East road map for peace was disingenuous (Irish Examiner, June 13).

A man was today remanded in custody charged with murdering rogue paramilitary Alan McCullough.

A top Belfast loyalist was charged tonight with murdering rogue paramilitary Alan McCullough.

Detectives investigating the murder of 21-year-old loyalist Alan McCullough today arrested a man in connection with the killing.

SUPPORTERS of jailed loyalist Johnny Adair yesterday challenged the reasons given by the Ulster Defence Association for its killing of Alan McCullough.

The Ulster Defence Association commander suspected of sanctioning the murder of rogue loyalist Alan McCullough has gone into hiding, it emerged tonight.

Police confirmed today that they have found the body of an associate of leading loyalist Johnny Adair.