The North may not get the same level of British government focus when the next Prime Minister takes over, secretary of state Peter Hain warned today.

Eyewitness claims that the Ulster Volunteer Force was involved in extortion and other criminal activities were today cited by Ulster Unionist MP Lady Sylvia Hermon as a reason for her unease over her party’s decision to link up with the Progressive Unionists in the Stormont Assembly.

The North's Assembly members will gather at Stormont today for the first time in three and a half years as part of a new bid to secure devolution.

Northern Ireland MPs will be invited to sit on a special committee in the Dáil dealing with issues affecting them, Sinn Féin said today.

Peter Hain was at the centre of his first political storm in Northern Ireland tonight after he was accused of rewriting British government policy there.

The British government is under pressure today to recognise Northern Ireland’s new political order by giving the Rev Ian Paisley’s Democratic Unionists seats in the House of Lords.

The SDLP tonight chose Assembly Member Eugene McMenamin as its candidate for the British General Election in West Tyrone.

There will be a major realignment in unionism in Northern Ireland in the post-David Trimble and Ian Paisley era, it was claimed today.

Sinn Féin was today preparing to capture its first-ever European Parliament seat in Northern Ireland.

A senior Ulster Unionist tonight claimed two former Assembly colleagues had failed to persuade others in the party to join them in defecting to the rival DUP.

David Trimble vowed today to rebuild his Ulster Unionist Party following damaging defections to Ian Paisley’s DUP.

Ian Paisley’s Democratic Unionists were tonight leading David Trimble’s Ulster Unionists in the battle for Northern Ireland Assembly seats.

It was a cruel winter’s day as Northern Ireland’s voters went to the polls to elect their next Assembly.

Northern Ireland’s Assets Recovery Agency must have proper funding to tackle paramilitary and criminal gangs, the Ulster Unionists said today.

The head of the international decommissioning body in Belfast, General John de Chastelain, was due to face questions from hardline unionists today about the latest act of IRA disarmament.

Talks between Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble and his Sinn Féin counterpart Gerry Adams ended tonight without any sign of a breakthrough of a deal to restore devolution.

THE Irish and British governments last night stuck by their plan for reviving devolution in the North despite the Ulster Unionists rejecting it at a party meeting.

The British and Irish governments tonight stuck by their plan for reviving devolution in Northern Ireland despite the Ulster Unionists rejecting it at a party meeting.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern met his British counterpart Tony Blair tonight as government efforts to restore the Northern Ireland Assembly were stepped up.

Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams today dismissed demands for the immediate disbandment of the IRA as wishful thinking.

Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble was today facing the prospect of a more hardline Assembly team as some of his harshest critics in the party were selected as candidates for the next Stormont election.

David Trimble tonight failed to halt a special meeting of his Ulster Unionists’ ruling body called by hardliners demanding more IRA disarmament.

Progress can be made on disarmament if Sinn Fein’s political opponents stop playing games with the Northern Ireland peace process, Stormont Minister Martin McGuinness claimed today.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Taoiseach Bertie Ahern were today preparing for a fresh push to prevent the collapse of the Good Friday Agreement.

Ulster Unionists are today preparing to hear an appeal for the reinstatement of an Assembly member suspended from the party for defying David Trimble.

A decision by Northern Ireland’s Alliance Party to pull out of the North Down constituency in favour of David Trimble’s Ulster Unionist Party was one of the toughest decisions it has had to make, leader Sean Neeson said tonight.

Sinn Fein minister Martin McGuinness will face a motion of no confidence in the Northern Ireland Assembly, it was decided today.