Northern Ireland’s First Minister Peter Robinson is recovering in hospital after suffering a suspected heart attack.

The North’s health minister Jim Wells has backed plans to introduce standardised cigarette packaging.

Paramilitaries believed to be involved in child exploitation in the North regard themselves as beyond the law, the North's health minister has said.

Life-saving services for children with congenital heart problems are suffering "significant" staff shortages and capacity issues, and must be beefed up "without delay" as they "cannot supply optimum support" to patients.

Children’s heart operations in Ireland are set to be delivered on a cross-border basis from a single surgical centre in Dublin, it has been announced.

Health and safety inspectors are investigating the death of a 10-year-old boy on a farm in the North.

We write to highlight the grave matter of how legislation in the Republic may affect the fight for the unborn child in Northern Ireland.

A man has drowned in a vain bid to rescue a teenage boy in a disused quarry in the North.

Consumers must be sure they are not being misled when buying food in the wake of the horsemeat scandal, a gathering of British and Irish parliamentarians has insisted.

A DEMOCRATIC Unionist Party member of the Northern Ireland assembly has come in for heavy criticism after calling for a halt to GAA clubs fundraising by packing shoppers’ bags in south Down supermarkets.

The Noth's political parties appointed their new power-sharing government today – with Sinn Féin replacing its entire ministerial team.

Arsonists blamed for gorse fires that sparked a major alert in the Mourne Mountains should face jail, it has been claimed.

Police in the North have launched a murder inquiry after a man blasted in the chest with a shotgun died in hospital.

South Down MP Margaret Ritchie is to demand talks with police after Protestant youths were blamed for what was initially described as a dissident republican armed checkpoint.

Air accident investigators have arrived at the scene of a helicopter crash that killed three people who were flying from the North to England, police confirmed tonight.

There are fears tonight that up to four people may have been killed in a helicopter crash in the North

A peregrine falcon was fatally injured by a shotgun blast in the latest in a series of attacks on birds of prey in the North, it emerged today.

An independent republican councillor whose police officer niece was the target of a suspected car bomb attack in the North tonight refused to condemn the incident.

A state inquiry into institutional and clerical child abuse in the North is almost inevitable, government sources said tonight.

A baby who died in the North had swine flu, Stormont’s health minister confirmed tonight.

The mountainous landscape where a light aircraft crashed with the loss of three lives in south Down must be the subject of a safety probe, the Assembly heard today.

The British government’s £12.5bn (€13.9bn) VAT cut to stimulate consumer spending was a complete and utter waste of money and has done nothing to help businesses in the North, a retailers body claimed today.

Four policemen in the North killed in an horrific road crash died trying to make their community a safer place, mourners at three of their funerals heard today.

Passers-by who tried in vain to rescue four policemen trapped in their burning 4x4 vehicle in the North were commended for their bravery today.

The North's Chief Constable Hugh Orde today led tributes to four policemen killed a horrific early morning road accident.

A DUP assembly member has told Senator Cecilia Keaveney to drop any plans for an interpretive centre at a British Army base in his constituency.

History was made today at a meeting of British-Irish body when it was attended by unionist politicians for the first time.

Politicians in the North hit out at the UK government tonight after it decided to reduce the sexual age of consent in the province against the wishes of the Stormont Assembly.

Steps to loosen planning restrictions in the North and will line the pockets of developers and do little for rural communities, an Assembly member warned today.

Burglars have broken into a police station in the North, it emerged tonight.

Stormont First Minister Ian Paisley today insisted he was not opposed to the idea of a Civic Forum.

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

Sinn Féin’s Caitriona Ruane topped the poll in South Down with a firm warning to the DUP to meet the March 26 deadline for power sharing.

POLICE chiefs in the North were last night accused of running a flawed investigation into the £26.5 million (€39m) Northern Bank robbery after charges were dropped against two suspects.

Police chiefs were tonight accused of running a botched investigation into the £26.5m (€392.2m) Northern Bank robbery after charges were dropped against two suspects.

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 family of a man shot dead by police in the North urged the public today not to judge him until a full investigation was completed.

Police in Northern Ireland who shot dead the driver of a stolen car took a split second decision to protect a woman and child whose lives were under threat, it was claimed today.

Internal police investigations are continuing in the North after a man was shot dead by PSNI officers at a checkpoint in Co Down yesterday.

A man was shot dead by police attempting to stop a suspected stolen car in Northern Ireland today.