The UDA has denied involvement in a punishment attack that saw an alleged drug dealer tarred and feathered in south Belfast during the weekend.

The Ulster Defence Association was today given 60 days to disarm and protect £1.2m (€1.77m) earmarked for the redevelopment of their neighbourhoods.

All remnants of paramilitarism must disappear from the North's society, First Minister Ian Paisley insisted today.

The North's largest paramilitary group was warned today Government funding for its political wing could be cut off unless it decommissions its weapons.

A loyalist paramilitary boss today predicted direct talks with republicans were inevitable if the North's new, devolved government succeeds.

Loyalist paramilitaries have to end criminality if their representatives' words are to mean anything, SDLP leader Mark Durkan insisted today.

Loyalists tonight told the Taoiseach they would work to convince their community there would be no sell-out in the Northern Ireland political process.

A delegation allied to loyalist paramilitaries in the North has met Taoiseach Bertie Ahern in Dublin tonight.

Loyalists in the North pledged today to continue an anti-sectarian drive in the town where a Catholic schoolboy was beaten to death.

A top loyalist was heavily involved in handing over £40,000 (€59,000) worth of stolen industrial equipment to police, it emerged today.

No drinks were on the house in true blue Sandy Row today.

The British government is expected to confront the UDA's political representatives about the seriousness of the loyalist group's latest ceasefire.

Police were today investigating reports of shots being fired during bonfire celebrations in the North.

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern is to be commended for his positive and realistic approach to last night’s face-to-face meeting with a delegation from the political wing of the UDA, the North’s most lethal loyalist paramilitary organisation.

The Taoiseach Bertie Ahern is due to hold talks tonight with representatives of loyalist paramilitaries.

DAVID TRIMBLE was under renewed pressure to step down as Ulster Unionist Party leader last night after more than 30 members of his constituency association walked out during the annual general meeting.

Loyalist representatives cannot effectively engage in the peace process unless there is an end to paramilitary violence on the streets, British security minister Jane Kennedy warned today.

Loyalist paramilitary prisoners could revolt inside a Northern Ireland jail at the centre of a separation scheme, their representatives warned today.

Prison chiefs were today accused of breaking a pledge by putting loyalist inmates on 24-hour lock-up at a Northern Ireland jail.

ELECTIONS to Northern Ireland’s collapsed power-sharing government will be held in October, it was predicted yesterday.

Elections to Northern Ireland’s collapsed power-sharing government will be held in October, it was predicted today.

A leading loyalist today urged nationalists to reserve their judgment on the Ulster Defence Association’s ceasefire until next year.

The Progressive Unionist Party and the Ulster Political Research Group, the political wings of the UVF and UDA, have called on loyalists to halt racist attacks on minority groups in Belfast and other areas of the North.

Attacks on Catholics in one of Northern Ireland’s most sectarian towns have been slashed after a year-long security clampdown, a police chief said today.

STARK warnings of violence filling the political vacuum caused by the postponement of the NI elections were made by sources in both governments and loyalist paramilitary representatives last night.

Politicians today appealed for calm after hundreds of youths clashed during fresh sectarian rioting at a north Belfast flashpoint.

Loyalist paramilitary representatives held talks with a senior Government minister in Northern Ireland tonight in a bid to secure more funding for their community.

The Ulster Political Research Group, the political wing of the UDA, has denied that the loyalist paramilitary organisation was involved in an attack on a 22-year-old woman in Coleraine, Co Derry on Monday.

LOYALISTS urged the British government yesterday to work with them to take the Ulster Defence Association down a purely political path.

Northern Ireland Secretary Paul Murphy today welcomed the announcement from the loyalist Ulster Defence Association to declare a 12-month ceasefire but urged them to work towards the ending of all paramilitary activity.

The UDA has described its ceasefire proposal as the "John Gregg Initiative", in memory of the UDA's South Antrim Brigadier who was killed earlier this month in a bitter feud with supporters of Johnny Adair.

Leading members of the Ulster Defence Association turned out in force today for the funeral of loyalist feud victim Robert “Rab” Carson.

Two men were arrested today by detectives investigating the murders of UDA boss John Gregg and another man in the docks area of Belfast, police said.

Fears that a loyalist feud is spiralling out of control increased today after top loyalist John “Grugg” Gregg and a second man were murdered in a shooting in the docks area of Belfast.

Associates of jailed terror boss Johnny “Mad Dog” Adair were tonight accused of leaving a pipe bomb at the home of a leading loyalist in the outskirts of north Belfast.

A TOP loyalist yesterday branded an attack on his home in Belfast in which shots were fired through his door as a cowardly attempt to scare him by other loyalists.

A top loyalist today branded an attack on his home in Belfast in which shots were fired through his door as a cowardly attempt to scare him by other loyalists.

The Irish and British governments were today due to consider the way forward for Northern Ireland’s troubled peace process – just one week after the suspension of devolution.

A 38-year-old man is due before Derry magistrates today charged with possession of information likely to be of use to terrorists.

SINN FÉIN national chairman Mitchel McLaughlin was one of a number of republicans whose personal details were found in the hands of a known loyalist, it emerged yesterday.

Sinn Fein national chairman Mitchel McLaughlin was one of a number of republicans whose personal details were found in the hands of a known loyalist, it emerged today.

Violence along an East Belfast peaceline will not end unless the security forces stop treating a nationalist neighbourhood as a no-go area, Democratic Unionist MP Peter Robinson claimed today.

Talks between Belfast Lord Mayor Alex Maskey and loyalist political representatives to quell street violence are a step forward, the Liberal Democrats claimed today.

Loyalist claims that republicans are masterminding street disorder to boost their vote in next year’s Assembly elections are laughable, a senior Sinn Fein figure claimed tonight.