The North's Finance Minister Sammy Wilson has faced claims that the Assembly's draft Budget is based on "ifs, buts and maybes".

The number of people going bankrupt in the North has more than trebled over the past decade.

A hardline revolt in the Orange Order was tonight blamed for its dramatic decision to reject a new system for overseeing controversial parades in the North.

Fermanagh and South Tyrone MLA Tom Elliott confirmed today that he will run for the leadership of the Ulster Unionist Party.

The good times of increased public spending in the North are over, the Finance Minister said today.

Reg Empey is expected to stay on as Ulster Unionist leader following a meeting of senior members tomorrow.

Peter Robinson received unanimous backing from Democratic Unionist members of the Northern Ireland Assembly today following the loss of his East Belfast Westminster seat.

A building society boss came under fire at the North's Assembly today for telling consumers they had to end their high-spending lifestyles.

A tax increase in the North will be necessary to maintain frontline public services, an economist claimed today.

Senior civil servants in the North who were paid £1m (€1.65m) in bonuses were today accused of putting wage demands ahead of the concept of public service.

The continuing failure of the North's football governing body to reform its internal structures is depriving local clubs of a £4m (€4.78m) British government cash boost, a Stormont committee heard today.

A senior Ulster Unionist was tonight replaced as chief whip amid claims from the DUP he was sacked after clashing with his party’s would-be partners – the UK's Conservative Party.

Northern Sports Minister Edwin Poots will face tough questions at Stormont today over plans to build a £240m (€318.9m) stadium project at the former Maze paramilitary prison.

An Irish-language commissioner should be appointed to oversee the development of a strategy to protect the language in the North, the Culture minister was told today.

Unionists are fed up with having the Irish language thrown in their faces at the Assembly, Stormont heard today.

PLANS to build a multi-sports stadium at the former Maze prison site cannot go ahead until questions over Windsor Park’s future are resolved, it was claimed yesterday.

Ulster Unionist Party education spokesman David McNarry has welcomed the British government decision to backdate teacher's pay in Northern Ireland with a funding package worth £6.5m (€9.3m).

Sir Reg Empey was tonight chosen by the Ulster Unionists Party to take over from David Trimble as leader.

At the end of the first count in the Ulster Unionist leadership battle there was 29 votes between Sir Reg Empey and Alan McFarland.

Three candidates bidding to succeed David Trimble as Ulster Unionist leader were facing a packed meeting of their ruling council in Belfast this evening to pitch their vision for the party.

Ulster Unionists will today decide who will take over from David Trimble as the party recovers from heavy election losses.

One of the candidates in the upcoming UUP leadership election has called for a ban on nationalist protests against Orange Order parades.

The race to succeed David Trimble as Ulster Unionist leader intensified tonight after the party confirmed three Assembly members as candidates.

Prospective candidates for the leadership of the Ulster Unionist Party faced a final deadline today to enter the race to succeed David Trimble.

A senior Ulster Unionist today told candidates for the party leadership they must oppose any form of devolution which would see Sinn Féin in government if they are to stand any chance of securing his backing in the contest.

Former British Army major Alan McFarland today entered the race to become leader of the Ulster Unionist Party.

A former Stormont minister was today preparing to enter the race for the leadership of the Ulster Unionist Party.

Colonel Tim Collins ruled himself out today as a contender for the Ulster Unionist Party leadership.

Just two people have so far declared themselves as candidates for the UUP leadership election, due to take place at the end of this month.

Politicians today slammed thugs who targeted members of the Turkish and Indian communities in the latest act of racial violence in Northern Ireland.

Northern Ireland needs more than a return to rolling devolution if politicians fail to reach agreement next month on power sharing, a nationalist leader said tonight.

Republicans cannot implement their peace process obligations “in isolation” while unionists fail to use their influence on loyalist paramilitaries to disarm, Sinn Féin chairman Mitchel McLaughlin claimed today.

Assembly committees should be established to scrutinise the work of direct rule ministers in Northern Ireland, the British government was told today.

With all 108 seats filled in the Northern Ireland Assembly the party shares are:

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

A senior Ulster unionist has hit out at a speech made by leading anti-agreement MP, Jeffrey Donaldson.

SINN FÉIN president Gerry Adams yesterday brushed aside claims that his party is glorifying violence by advertising IRA t-shirts on its new website.

Ulster Unionist Party members were reviewing their security tonight after a mail bomb sent to leader David Trimble partially exploded.

A leading member of the Ulster Unionist Party has said that republicans must take major steps if they want to persuade unionists to resume sharing power with Sinn Fein.

Loyalist residents in north Belfast today vowed to defuse tensions in their area by ensuring protests against Catholic schoolchildren and their parents pass off peacefully.

Loyalists in north Belfast are considering moves to tone down their picket this week of Catholic schoolchildren and their parents, a source close to the protest claimed tonight.

Polling has continued heavy across the North this afternoon with people turning out early to ensure they can cast their vote.

The offer of an electoral pact between parties supporting the Good Friday Agreement remained open today as the Northern Ireland parties prepared to nominate Westminster candidates.

Republicans need to up the pace over the issue of arms decommissioning, Ulster Unionists claimed today.