Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness has rejected a claim by the North's First Minister that a meeting with the Minister for Health and Education in Dublin today is an electoral stunt.

The SDLP has said it will support Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness following the DUP's motion of no confidence in him.

Sinn Fein will today ask the Taoiseach to put pressure on the British Government to bring an end to David Trimble's ban on its Stormont ministers attending north-south ministerial council meetings.

The Sinn Fein President, Gerry Adams, has described Mr. Trimble’s letter to Martin McGuinness and Bairbre De Bruin as grossly offensive to nationalists and republicans.

There is a call for Sinn Fein's two northern ministers to join an EU campaign to stamp out cigarette smuggling, following reports that the IRA is heavily involved in the trade.