Voters in west Belfast will head to the polls today to elect a successor to long-standing MP Gerry Adams.

Six candidates are contesting the June 9 Belfast West Commons by-election to choose a successor to Sinn Féin’s Gerry Adams.

A man was shot dead on the Shankill Road in Belfast today. The victim, believed to be in his mid 40s, was gunned down at point-blank range in the staunchly loyalist area shortly before 1pm.

The Ulster Unionist Party’s sole MP Lady Sylvia Hermon today said she will “weigh up her options” after refusing to fight the next election under a joint banner with the Conservative Party.