The PSNI chief constable was forced to apologise after the prosecution of Hyde Park bombing suspect John Downey collapsed due to a “monumental” blunder by his force.

Sinn Féin veteran Francie Molloy insisted his party colleague Martin McGuinness would be a hard act to follow after winning the Westminster seat vacated by Stormont’s deputy First Minister.

Voters in Mid Ulster go to the polls today in a Westminster by-election contest that has become heavily associated with a historic Troubles murder.

Police evacuated about 100 homes today after they discovered a “suspicious object”, reported to be three mortars, in a van, the Police Service of Northern Ireland said.

The race to succeed Martin McGuinness as MP for the Mid Ulster constituency has been confirmed as a four-way fight.

Martin McGuinness has been awarded an English aristocratic title to secure his resignation as an MP, the British Treasury confirmed today.

Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness today pledged to re-double their efforts to create a better and shared future in the North as they were reappointed First and Deputy First Minister.

More than 60,000 homes face a night without water in the North as engineers temporarily cut off supplies to allow depleted reservoirs to refill.

Around 5,200 homes in the North remained without water as engineers continued to repair the leaks that crippled the region’s water system.

NORTHERN Ireland secretary Owen Paterson said the British Government was “profoundly sorry” that the victims of the 1972 Claudy bombing and their families had been denied justice.

A civilian police worker escaped injury today when a suspect booby trap bomb fell off his car in the North.

Sinn Féin MLA Alex Maskey is under a death threat from loyalists, it was revealed today.

British and Irish members of parliament will tomorrow be briefed on what is being described as an effective truth commission on the North's Troubles.

Francie Molloy, a Deputy Speaker of the Northern Assembly, has been named in the House of Commons by a DUP MP as an ex-British agent suspected of involvement in the murder of a former RUC reservist.

A commissioner for victims of the North's troubles could be appointed by the power-sharing executive at Stormont within weeks, Martin McGuinness said today.

Sinn Féin is to challenge Northern Chief Constable Hugh Orde over a decision to charge a top republican with money laundering.

Rural and disadvantaged communities in the North will be hard hit by the British government’s decision to press ahead with a mass closure of post offices, it was claimed today.

The Irish Government today faced further calls to rejoin the Commonwealth.

The new speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly is set to be the Democratic Unionist Party's Willie Hay, it was confirmed today.

The DUP and Sinn Féin were making significant gains in the Northern Ireland Assembly Elections.

Sinn Féin’s task will be to deliver a non-partisan police service in the North if it takes the groundbreaking step of supporting the PSNI, Gerry Adams insisted today.

A Sinn Féin Assembly member tonight became the second member of its Stormont team to step down after only serving one term.

It will be several political lifetimes before policing and justice powers are transferred to a devolved government in the North if Sinn Féin continues to delay moves to endorse the police, Gerry Adams’s party was warned today.

The Stormont Committee set up by the British government to prepare the ground for a return to power-sharing in the North is due to finally get down to work today.

The coming weeks will test whether the Democratic Unionists are serious about preparing for devolved government in the North, Martin McGuinness claimed tonight.

Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain today appointed the Stormont Assembly's two deputy speakers to chair a crucial committee preparing for the return of devolved government.

Northern Ireland Assembly members were today given until Monday to make their position clear on a committee preparing for devolved government.

The nationalist SDLP was accused today of sending out mixed messages on its attitude to the Northern Ireland Assembly, which reconvenes next week.

The latest member of Northern Secretary Peter Hain’s ministerial team will today make his debut in the North as its Agriculture Minister.

A senior Sinn Féin member suspended after he spoke out against party policy is to be reinstated later this month, it emerged today.

Suspended Sinn Féin mayor Francie Molloy will be given a fair hearing when he appears before the party’s disciplinary committee, it was claimed today.

A Sinn Féin assemblyman suspended for disagreeing with the party line on local government reforms has called on the party to accept more dissent.

A RADICAL reorganisation of the way the North is governed will reduce the number of public bodies across local government, health and social services and education from 67 to 20.

Sinn Féin's Francie Molloy has been suspended from the party after publicly disagreeing with its line on local government reform.

The British government today faced fresh demands in the North for a pension which all citizens would be eligible for and could afford to live on.

A limit should be placed on the size of political donations to Northern Ireland parties, the Electoral Commission is due to hear today.

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

A day before Northern Ireland’s Assembly Election, Sinn Féin candidates were getting twitchy.

The IRA has threatened all Catholic members of a new community policing body in Northern Ireland, it was claimed tonight.

A former Stormont Health Minister was tonight chosen as Sinn Féin’s candidate in Northern Ireland for next year’s European Parliament election.

Sinn Féin was today deciding who its Northern Ireland candidate will be for next year’s European Parliament elections.

SINN FÉIN is accused of trying to rewrite history with the recreation of a famous Catholic civil rights march in the North.

Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams is confident his party can win one of Northern Ireland's three European parliament seats next year.

The lawyer representing the three Irishmen accused of training anti-Government rebels in Colombia has confirmed that the men will not be appearing in court for a preliminary hearing today.