Police were bracing themselves for another night of violence after a protest by loyalists against new restrictions on flying the Union flag passed peacefully.

The annual riots in Belfast show the normalisation of abnormality, say Stephen Rainey and Jason Walsh

THE Government has welcomed the announcement by loyalist groups that they have destroyed their weapons and pledged to respect democratic rule.

The Ulster Defence Association will not receive public money in exchange for destroying weapons, the North’s deputy First Minister said today.

Loyalist paramilitary groups in the North have destroyed their weapons and pledged to respect democratic rule, it was announced today.

Yesterday marked the tenth anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. Some of the events of the past year were unimaginable 10 years ago.

A man being questioned in connection with the death of schoolboy Thomas Devlin will appear in court today on an assault charge, police said.

Police in the North are still questioning seven people in connection with the murder of schoolboy Thomas Devlin.

A leading loyalist politician is among seven people being questioned by police in the north investigating the brutal murder of a schoolboy.

THE father of a teenager murdered in a loyalist area in north Belfast two years ago yesterday urged Taoiseach Bertie Ahern to withdraw the Government’s financial support for projects in the area.

An escape tunnel discovered on the site of the North's infamous Maze Prison may have been dug by loyalist paramilitaries 30 years ago, it was claimed tonight.

The loyalist Progressive Unionist Party will today choose David Ervine’s successor as leader.

The Progressive Unionist Party in the North is to choose a new leader next week.

David Ervine, leader of the loyalist Progressive Unionist Party in the North, died in hospital today.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s eyes are fixed on the prize of the IRA going away for good, a loyalist political leader will tell his party today.

Today's Apprentice Boys parade in North Belfast has passed off peacefully.

The PUP's Billy Hutchinson has been eliminated from the North Belfast count where Sinn Féin's Kathy Stanton is going to pick up a second seat.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and Prime Minster Tony Blair will have to face up to the reality that a majority of unionists want a new settlement in Northern Ireland, they were told today.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and British Prime Minister Tony Blair were today due to consider their next move in the peace process as hardline unionists continued to make the running in the Northern Ireland Assembly election.

Senior unionists Peter Robinson and Nigel Dodds of the DUP and Reg Empey of the UUP have been elected on the first count.

Supporters of Ulster unionist leader David Trimble were bracing themselves today for the release of a series of commitments by anti-Good Friday Agreement members of his party standing in the Northern Ireland Assembly election.

People in Northern Ireland have lost faith with the Good Friday Agreement because of a failure to implement it properly, a loyalist party was due to hear today.

Thousands of republicans were expected to converge on Belfast City Hall today for a rally against collusion.

DISSIDENT republicans were yesterday blamed for the attempted abduction of a prominent loyalist politician in west Belfast.

Republicans in North Belfast are today initially sceptical about the PUP's claims of an apparent attempt to abduct Billy Hutchinson in Belfast this morning.

Police in the North are investigating an apparent attempt to abduct a prominent loyalist politician in Belfast this morning.

Billy Hutchinson of the PUP in the North says he's angry and disappointed that an invitation to speak at an ex-prisoners meeting tomorrow night in Co Tyrone has been withdrawn.

The Progressive Unionist Party has announced plans to run 11 candidates in the upcoming elections to the Northern Assembly.

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

The Ulster Volunteer Force and the Red Hand Commando today withdrew from disarmament talks with the international decommissioning body in Belfast.

Loyalists were set to break off negotiations today with the man overseeing paramilitary disarmament in a major new blow to the Northern Ireland peace process.

A party linked with loyalist paramilitaries tonight pulled out of talks to restore devolution in Northern Ireland because it claimed it was being shut out of the negotiations.

A pipe bomb attack on a flashpoint primary school in north Belfast will not signal the start of a new protest campaign by loyalists, it was claimed tonight.

Loyalists in north Belfast threw missiles at police from the top of a 13-storey block of flats last night after officers moved to arrest a local woman.

Extra police and soldiers are expected to be drafted into north Belfast tomorrow in preparation for a controversial loyalist parade through a nationalist area.

REPUBLICANS and loyalists have been involved in high-level talks in a bid to end violence in north Belfast, it emerged last night.

The nature of the apology, argues Fergus Finlay, signals that the IRA is preparing to take the next step.

Nationalist residents in north Belfast have rejected a peace plan drawn up for the flashpoint Ardoyne area because it would have included the construction of a wall between the Catholic and Protestant communities.

Shots were fired at police as they kept apart rival mobs during the latest bout of sectarian rioting in strife-torn north Belfast.

Several people were tonight injured during the latest bout of sectarian rioting in strife-torn north Belfast.

Rioting has flared tonight in a number of flashpoint areas of north Belfast.

Police and the British army were today investigating the possibility that a blast bomb exploded setting an oil tank on fire during riots between rival factions in Northern Belfast last night.

As the third night of violence between loyalist mobs in riot-hit north Belfast subsided, police said they had come under fire.