Victims of historic child abuse in the North should receive State-backed compensation payments of up to £100,000 (€115,000), an inquiry has recommended.

The response to child sex abuse allegations was totally inadequate and ineffective, the former head of the Catholic Church in Ireland has said.

Paedophile priest Fr Brendan Smyth threatened to punch another cleric when warned to stay away from altar boys, an inquiry has heard.

Paedophile priest Fr Brendan Smyth found peace with god, an inquiry has been told. In a letter written in 1995 after his conviction for sexually assaulting more than 40 children in the North, the west Belfast-born priest said he hoped his victims could also find solace. He had lashed out at the media for adding to their distress.

A Catholic religious order has accepted notorious paedophile priest Brendan Smyth abused children while they were in the care of nuns in the North, a lawyer told a public inquiry yesterday.

One of the first boys to enter a children’s home in the North has said he was abused by a religious brother the day after he arrived.

Sexual abuse was rampant at a children’s home in the North run by a Catholic order of brothers, a former senior police officer has said.

Children from the North who were sent to Australia shortly after the Second World War faced grave sexual and physical violence after arrival in institutions, witnesses have told a public inquiry.

A woman abused while resident at a children’s home in the North was left suicidal after telling her story before a public inquiry.

Sixty-six people have applied to give evidence about the alleged abuse of child migrants from Northern Ireland, the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry has said.

The public inquiry into institutional child abuse in the North is to travel to Australia to interview alleged victims transferred from there.

Nuns who ran a hell hole children’s home in Northern Ireland were nearly psychotic, a former resident said.

Church-run “hell hole” children’s homes in Ireland were like Nazi concentration camps, a former resident claimed.

An order of Catholic Brothers has apologised for abusing boys at its residential care home in the North.

The inquiry into the abuse of children at residential homes in the North will examine the soul of society, a lawyer has said.

Two children’s homes run by the Catholic Church will be investigated first as part of a major inquiry into institutional abuse in the North, it has been revealed.

A State inquiry into historical institutional child abuse in Northern Ireland will initially investigate 35 residential facilities.

A man found guilty of murdering two British soldiers in the North has had his convictions quashed.

An inquiry into historical abuse at institutions in the North has received 140 applications, 10 of which are from the Republic of Ireland.

Retired judge Anthony Hart is to chair the North's official inquiry into the abuse of children living in residential care back to 1945.

A terminally ill dissident republican jailed for murdering two soldiers in the North has today launched a legal bid to overturn his conviction.

A terminally-ill man must serve a minimum of 25 years in jail for the murders of two soldiers shot dead by dissident republicans in the North, a judge ruled today.

A terminally ill dissident republican convicted of murdering two British soldiers will today find out the length of his jail term.

A man cleared of murdering two soldiers in the North has claimed his DNA was planted on a latex glove in the getaway car.

A dissident republican was convicted today of murdering two British soldiers outside an army base in the North.

A high-profile republican was cleared today of murdering two British soldiers outside an Army base in the North.

A man accused of murdering two soldiers is a highly unlikely terrorist, a court heard today.

Evidence from soil samples which allegedly links the man accused to the murder of two soldiers will not be admitted to court, a judge ruled this afternoon.

Controversial DNA evidence allegedly linking two men to the murder of two soldiers in the North is to be allowed, a judge ruled today.

Forensic evidence against two men accused of murdering two British soldiers in the North is reliable and proven, a barrister for the prosecution said.

Traces of DNA linking a man to the murders of two British soldiers are at most 100 billion times smaller than a gram, a court has heard.

A DNA expert who testified against two men accused of murdering two British soldiers is prepared to exaggerate and tell partial truths in order to promote his technique, a court was told today.

Bullets fired in a terrorist gun attack that killed two British soldiers were of a make and date similar to those used in Provisional IRA shootings, a court has heard today.

Chilling video footage played today at the trial of two men for the murders of two soldiers showed the moment the servicemen were gunned down by masked attackers.

A PHARMACIST who bludgeoned a pensioner with a crucifix in a violent and drunken attack was jailed for life for murder in Belfast yesterday.

Former Sunday school teacher Hazel Stewart, who was jailed for murdering her policeman husband and her ex-lover’s wife, has launched an appeal bid against her conviction.

THE clock on the wall directly above the dock was just approaching 10.23 when she heard the words which condemned her.

A former Sunday school teacher who murdered her policeman husband and her ex-lover's wife and then covered it up as a double suicide was jailed for a minimum of 18 years today.

A mother jailed for life for murdering her husband and ex-lover's wife is due to hear today how long she must spend in prison.

A former Sunday school teacher has today been found guilty of murdering her policeman husband and her lover’s wife.

A jury which will decide whether a former Sunday school teacher is guilty of a double murder must keep an open mind, the judge said tonight.

A FORMER Sunday school teacher accused of murdering her policeman husband and her lover’s wife will not give evidence at her trial, her lawyer told Coleraine Crown Court today.

Dentist Colin Howell tried to trick psychiatrists into thinking he killed his wife on the spur of the moment in order to get a shorter sentence, he told the trial of his former lover Hazel Stewart.

A former play school assistant in the North conspired with her dentist lover to murder her husband and his wife for their own selfish ends, her trial heard today.