THE crimson red of the Gaelic football shirts; the bottle green of the police uniform.

Romanian families forced to flee their homes in Belfast in the wake of racist attacks are to be temporarily re-housed, the North's government announced today.

Groundbreaking first talks between the head of the Roman Catholic church in Ireland and loyalist leaders are to take place today.

The North’s police chief paid a moving personal tribute today to the police constable shot dead by dissident republicans and promised his widow that he would never be forgotten.

A country town in the North came to a standstill today for the funeral of the policeman murdered by dissident republicans.

A tense armed forces homecoming parade passed off without incident in Belfast today where police mounted a huge security operation to keep apart thousands of loyalist supporters and republican protestors.

The British government is believed to have given the UDA six months to decommission its weapons or face a police crackdown.

Gerry Adams has now accepted there is only one legitimate police service in the North, Chief Constable Hugh Orde said today.

The UDA has announced that its military wing, the UFF, is standing down all of its units from midnight tonight.

Stormont Social Development Minister Margaret Ritchie was today warned that her credibility would be damaged if she lets a deadline slip for loyalist paramilitaries to disarm.

A Stormont minister will tonight meet loyalists over her demand for Ulster Defence Association disarmament in return for a dedicated fund to develop their neighbourhoods.

Police in the North fear more bloodshed after a policeman was shot and man was stabbed during violent loyalist clashes in Carrickfergus, Co. Antrim last night.

A loyalist paramilitary boss today predicted direct talks with republicans were inevitable if the North's new, devolved government succeeds.

Loyalists in the North should decommission their weapons and disband their terror machines, one of their most notorious former leaders said tonight.

AN Irish diplomat has been forced to flee the North because of death threats from anti-Catholic extremists, the Government said yesterday.

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

POLITICAL representatives of the loyalist Ulster Defence Association yesterday ruled out any imminent moves on disarmament.

Political representatives of the loyalist Ulster Defence Association today ruled out any imminent moves on disarmament.

PRESIDENT Mary McAleese expressed her fervent desire to see children from her home city of Belfast grow up in a climate of peace.

A loyalist paramilitary leader expressed his hope today that President Mary McAleese would be able to one day visit Belfast’s hard-line protestant Shankill Road.

“HOW can they say to wee Paddy, on the border with his AK47, who has spent 27 years shooting at soldiers and pickers (police): ‘Give us your AK47, you don’t need it any more’?” was the cynical reaction of UDA brigadier Jackie McDonald in his office in a prisoners’ drop-in centre at the heart of the Protestant Sandy Row in south Belfast.

Loyalists today greeted the IRA’s statement with suspicion and expressed concern over the motives behind the historic announcement.

President Mary McAleese will be invited back on to the loyalist Shankill Road in Belfast, a leading loyalist claimed today.

The British government’s recognition of the Ulster Defence Association’s ceasefire officially came into effect today.

The Ulster Defence Association was challenged tonight to guarantee their guns have fallen silent forever.

President Mary McAleese’s husband, Martin, has held at least one meeting with leading members of the Ulster Defence Association, according to BBC Northern Ireland.

Loyalist paramilitary representatives tonight hailed their first meeting with Taoiseach Bertie Ahern as historic and said many more may follow.

Loyalist paramilitary representatives were on their way to Dublin tonight for talks with Taoiseach Bertie Ahern.

The Taoiseach Bertie Ahern is due to hold talks tonight with representatives of loyalist paramilitaries.

The Taoiseach is to hold talks with a group linked to the loyalist paramilitary Ulster Defence Association in Dublin tomorrow.

The PSNI Chief Constable Hugh Orde has said that the two pipe bombs found in north Belfast last night are directly linked to the loyalist rioting at Maghaberry jail in Co Antrim.

Thousands of loyalists were expected to attend today’s funeral of murdered UDA leader John Gregg.

Leading members of the Ulster Defence Association turned out in force today for the funeral of loyalist feud victim Robert “Rab” Carson.