Former Northern Ireland First Minister Ian Paisley will not seek re-election in the forthcoming general election, it was revealed today.

Police have foiled a dissident republican murder bid against Northern Assembly member Ian Paisley Jnr, he said today.

The North’s First Minister Peter Robinson warned today he would not tolerate PSNI officers being sent to Libya on future assignments.

Northern Assembly member Ian Paisley Jnr was fined £5,000 (€5,862) today for refusing to reveal the name of a confidential source.

Former DUP leader Ian Paisley has taken the Northern political establishment by surprise today by saying he might contest the next British general election.

Assembly Members must reveal if they employ relatives or hold second jobs under a new code of conduct unveiled at Stormont today.

Leading Democratic Unionist Ian Paisley Jnr said today that he is to appeal over a High Court decision ordering him to reveal a source which gave him evidence on the murder of a high-profile loyalist paramilitary.

Ian Paisley Jnr has been cleared of any wrongdoing in a property deal with a developer in the North.

Bank margins on financial products have risen amid financial uncertainty, a Stormont committee heard today.

Businesses in the North were today being given advice on guarding themselves against tiger kidnappings after two such incidents in 24 hours.

Smugglers from Co Tyrone who brought millions worth of cigarettes into the North have avoided prison, it was revealed today.

THE duo responsible for securing Ireland’s entry to the World Rally Championship, Sean O’Connor and Ronan Morgan are to stand down from the promotion and management of Rally Ireland at the end of this month.

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.

The DUP's Ian Paisley Jnr has lodged an official complaint against the SDLP's John Dallat over the investigation that led to his resignation earlier this year.

Plans for a new €27m visitor centre at the Giant's Causeway in Co Antrim have been submitted to the local authorities.

BERTIE AHERN became embroiled in the bitter race for the US presidency last night as he backed Hillary Clinton’s disputed claims to have been a peace-broker in the North.

A former Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) officer is set to take charge of an Assembly committee tasked with reporting on the transfer of policing and justice powers, it has emerged.

IAN PAISLEY Jnr had to resign this week as a junior minister in the Northern Executive headed by his father.

Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness has officially launched this year's gay pride festival in his home city of Derry.

Gay rights activists marked the beginning of Dublin’s Pride festival by demanding the next government prioritise legislation recognising same sex couples.

The Democratic Unionist Party has unveiled its ministerial team for the new power-sharing Executive in the North.

The Democratic Unionist Party is due to unveil its ministerial team for the new power-sharing Executive in the North later today.

The SDLP is coming under intense criticism over its claim that it influenced the appointment of the PSNI chief constable.

EFFORTS to broker agreement among political parties in the North, in my view, are stumbling inexorably towards collapse and, all things considered, this need not necessarily be the worst possible outcome.

The DUP is defending the senior police officers who refused to co-operate with the Police Ombudsman's inquiry into collusion between the RUC and loyalist paramilitaries.

THE Democratic Unionist Party is today expected to ask the North’s police chief why proper procedure was not followed by officers when the Police ombudsman’s son allegedly shouted sectarian abuse at the PSNI.

President Mary McAleese and her husband Martin were urged today to end all further contact with the leadership of the loyalist Ulster Defence Association.

THE NORTH'S top detective has told the Policing Board the IRA is still involved in organised crime, it was revealed last night.

Senior politicians in the North have reacted angrily to the British government's latest threat to stop paying salaries to members of the suspended Assembly.

A LIFE on the run, hiding from angry republicans, faced Denis Donaldson last night.

TOP loyalist Jim Gray was shot dead in Belfast last night.

PRESIDENT Mary McAleese yesterday scrapped plans to visit a tense and troubled loyalist area of Belfast today.

Two policing board members clashed today on the eve of a meeting between Irish President Mary McAleese and the North’s most senior police officer in Belfast.

The IRA is still unlikely to carry out a major terrorist operation which would breach the organisation’s ceasefire but retained its capability, a senior policeman in Northern Ireland claimed today.

The IRA has expelled three of its members over the murder of a man outside a Belfast bar, it emerged tonight.

The Government will come under fresh pressure today to give Sinn Féin a heavy financial penalty when Northern Ireland Secretary Paul Murphy announces what sanctions will be imposed for the IRA’s audacious Northern Bank robbery.

PRESIDENT Mary McAleese is to visit Belfast next month for her first trip to Northern Ireland since her apology for appearing to compare Northern Protestants to the Nazis.

PRESIDENT Mary McAleese has apologised for remarks which offended Northern Protestants during a radio interview on the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.

Hardline unionists have called for Sinn Féin's exclusion from politics in the North following a court decision to overturn the acquittal of the so-called Colombia Three.

The Democratic Unionist Party has said recent comments by PSNI chief constable Hugh Orde showed how far the IRA had to go before unionists could be satisfied that Sinn Féin was truly democratic.

Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams has given his strongest hint yet that the IRA is prepared to disband to facilitate progress in the peace process.

The Democratic Unionist Party has criticised comments made by the Catholic archbishop of Armagh in a speech in London last night.

SINN FÉIN president Gerry Adams last night welcomed news the three Irishmen held in Colombia were to be released and called on the Government to “ensure the men get home safely to their families”.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair was flying into Tripoli today for controversial talks with Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.