SOUTH Belfast GP Alasdair McDonnell was yesterday elected the new deputy leader of the nationalist SDLP in Northern Ireland.

South Belfast GP Alasdair McDonnell was today elected the new deputy leader of the nationalist SDLP in Northern Ireland.

The outgoing deputy leader of the SDLP, Brid Rodgers, says the Good Friday Agreement hasn't failed, but rather those who were meant to implement it in full have failed.

The SDLP annual conference in Belfast today will examine in its poor election results in the November assembly poll.

A councillor in Northern Ireland today became the first member of his party to switch allegiance to Sinn Féin after the Assembly election.

The nationalist SDLP was rocked today by the resignation from the party of one of its councillors.

NATIONALISM in the North has always had a habit of renewing itself.

THE Ulster Unionists will emerge stronger in tomorrow’s make-or-break Assembly Election in the North, leader David Trimble predicted last night.

The Ulster Unionists will emerge stronger in this week’s Assembly election in Northern Ireland, their leader David Trimble predicted tonight.

There could be a united Ireland by 2016, Sinn Fein’s Martin McGuinness predicted tonight.

The balance of power could be shifting in the Reverend Ian Paisley’s Democratic Unionists, a senior Sinn Féin figure observed today.

The SDLP has recruited strategists from the British Labour Party, Irish Labour and the PDs for its Assembly election campaign, it emerged today.

Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams and nationalist SDLP leader Mark Durkan were due to meet today as speculation mounted that an Assembly election in Northern Ireland was drawing near.

The British government will be making a grave mistake if it were to abolish the Northern Ireland Parades Commission, nationalists warned tonight.

PREPARING for a war in Iraq that most of the world does not want should be more than enough to occupy Tony Blair’s mind, without having to put up with David Trimble’s petulance.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and British Prime Minister Tony Blair said significant progress has been made in the Northern talks despite postponing Assembly elections by four weeks.

Republicans must play by the same rules as their political rivals, a former nationalist minister told Sinn Fein today.

Northern Ireland political parties were gathering today to discuss implementing the Good Friday Agreement.

P.E.A.C.E (Prayer Enterprise and Christian Effort) is pleased to announce that the following have been designated Peace People of the Year 2002: EU commissioner Chris Patten; Sandra Peake, Wave Trauma Centre, Belfast; Brid Rodgers deputy leader, SDLP; Fr Aidan Troy, Holycross Retreat, Belfast.

Nationalists feel let down by allegations of IRA spying at the heart of government, Brid Rodgers, deputy leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party said tonight.

Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams and Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble are meeting in Stormont this afternoon to discuss ways to overcome the current crisis in the Irish peace process.

More criticism of republicans and unionists for creating crisis in the peace process is expected at the annual SDLP conference in Antrim today.

John Reid is set to be replaced as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, as he takes up a post as Labour party chairman.

Plans to suspend the Northern Ireland Assembly and Executive will be “deeply damaging” to the North's farming industry, Stormont Agriculture Minister Brid Rodgers warned today.

THE real tragedy of the political drama currently unfolding in Belfast is that most people see the Good Friday Agreement as the best chance for lasting peace in Northern Ireland.

The Social Democratic and Labour Party tonight signalled its determination to hold on to two of its Stormont Assembly seats in the constituency of West Tyrone.

The Social Democratic and Labour Party tonight signalled its determination to hold on to two of its Stormont Assembly seats in the constituency of West Tyrone.

The Parades Commission in Northern Ireland must be allowed to continue to rule on contentious marches, moderate nationalists said tonight.

Northern Ireland Agriculture Minister Brid Rodgers tonight pledged to do all she can to restore exports of Northern Irish beef to France.

The SDLP’s Brid Rodgers has accused UUP leader David Trimble of betraying the nationalists who put their faith in him following the signing of the Good Friday Agreement.

Brian Cowen and Enda Kenny are to feature in an SDLP conference on "the nature and needs of modern Ireland".

STORMONT Agriculture Minister Brid Rodgers is to stand down from the Northern Ireland Assembly at the next election.

Stormont agriculture minister Brid Rodgers is to stand down from the Northern Ireland Assembly at the next election, she announced today.

Restrictions on the movement of cattle and sheep from Great Britain to the North are to be relaxed next week, it emerged tonight.

Portadown Orangemen were urged tonight to recognise their awesome responsibility to Northern Ireland to protest peacefully at Drumcree at the weekend.

The SDLP is to undergo a major image revamp ahead of next year’s Assembly elections.

The husband of a woman killed in an IRA bomb has branded ‘‘offensive’’ a weekend commemoration in Dublin of republicans killed during the Troubles.

Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble today accused nationalists of overreacting as the furore over his scathing criticisms of the Irish Republic rumbled on.

Northern Ireland Deputy First Minister Mark Durkan will travel to Boston today on the final leg of his week-long tour of the US.

Moderate nationalists in Northern Ireland must be commended for going on the Police Board despite their concerns, US Senator Edward Kennedy said today.

The leaders of Northern Ireland’s power-sharing government were today holding talks with New York senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and other US politicians on the second day of their visit to Washington.

A delegation of SDLP ministers is due to meet the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, in Dublin later today.