SDLP leader Margaret Ritchie could face a second challenger after South Belfast MP Alasdair McDonnell said he is being urged to step forward.

Billy Wright’s father insisted today there was “firm and final” proof of state collusion in his son’s killing.

FIFTEEN women were rescued when police raided a series of brothels in a major crackdown on trafficking in the North.

Fifteen women were rescued today as police raided a series of brothels in a major crackdown on human trafficking in the North.

Three children injured in a bomb attack in the North had a miraculous escape, police said today.

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.

Violence which followed the jailing of three dissident republicans for plotting to kill police officers in the North was branded a disgrace today.

The successor to the North's police chief Hugh Orde will be decided today as four high-ranking candidates face a rigorous interview process in Belfast.

The SDLP will support the retention of the Parades Commission when it outlines details of its plans for resolving contentious marches tomorrow.

The SDLP today announced a wide-ranging reshuffle of its Assembly team.

An SDLP Assembly member says she will not be intimidated after being threatened by armed an armed and masked man in Lurgan last night.

A woman has been treated for burn injuries after being struck with a petrol bomb during an attack on her home, police said today.

Money to plug the £24.5m (€28.7m) hole in the North’s policing budget can still be found, the Policing Board insisted today.

Some residents in Craigavon claim the violence that erupted in the town yesterday was prompted by heavy-handed tactics by PSNI officers.

Dissident republicans are believed to have been behind a gun attack on a police patrol in Craigavon, Co Armagh, last night.

POLICE have come under petrol bomb and blast bomb attack in the north.

Police today escaped injury after being pelted by petrol bombs and other missiles in Craigavon, Co Armagh.

A police shoot-to-kill policy against dissident republican terrorists would be accepted by the community in the North, Policing Board member Ian Paisley Jnr claimed today.

Ulster Weavers is shedding 45 jobs after announcing plans today to stop making linen at a factory.

The body which adjudicates on contentious parades in the North is today looking for a new member after the Law Lords declared the appointment by Peter Hain of one of its members was unlawful.

A special adviser to a senior DUP minister in the North is coming under fire after an anti-Catholic outburst.

A DUP special advisor to the Northern Ireland Executive was today at the centre of a bizarre religious row.

European legislation granting equality to homosexuals has left the North’s First and Deputy First Ministers at loggerheads, it was claimed today.

Nine men were in custody tonight after a massive police search for weapons and explosives linked to dissident republicans in the North.

Nine men are being questioned tonight after a massive police search for weapons and explosives linked to dissident republicans in the North.

The post of Victims Commissioner in the North is to be re-advertised, the Rev Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness announced today.

Criticism of delays in appointing a Victims’ Commissioner for the North is political point-scoring, the government said today.

The decision to site Army bases far from the border is part of a policy of ethnic cleansing of unionists from republican strongholds, it was claimed today.

The North’s First Minister Ian Paisley today refused to give the Assembly an assurance his son will have no role in bringing forward legislation in relation to gays and lesbians.

A former Sinn Féin mayor of Derry is to join the party’s first three Assembly representatives on the Northern Ireland Policing Board.

Members of a borough council in the North will today be urged to stand up to people who issued a death threat to their chief executive and his family.

A Northern Ireland Office minister was today criticised for remaining silent on the death threat against the chief executive of a council in the North.

Just as many Catholics as Protestants are reporting crime to the police in Northern Ireland, a new survey claimed today.

Nationalist politicians expressed concern today that MI5 could use a decision to give it full legal representation at an inquiry into the murder of a human rights lawyer in Northern Ireland to suppress sensitive documents.

DUP councillors in Co Armagh have been accused of bullying Ulster Unionist colleagues who backed the principle of power-sharing in Craigavon last night.

One of two Orangemen in the North appointed to the Parades Commission has resigned.

POLICE in the North believe they foiled a major bomb attack yesterday when they seized almost 115kg of homemade explosives.

The PSNI has apparently foiled a planned bomb attack by dissident republicans.

An SDLP member at the centre of a row with the North's Parades Commission has been nominated to serve on the Policing Board, it emerged today.

The Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments is to receive an official complaint about an Orangeman serving on Northern Ireland’s Parades Commission, it emerged today.

The British government was tonight facing demands from nationalist politicians in Northern Ireland for further explanation about its appointment practices for members of the Parades Commission.

An Orangeman on Northern Ireland’s Parades Commission was today urged to resign after fresh questions were raised about his appointment.

A senior NI policeman today made an appeal to the conscience of those with vital information about the savage murders of two teenagers five years ago.

The SDLP has condemned an attempt by the Orange Order to get permission to parade down the nationalist Garvaghy Road on Christmas Day.