The number of police officers recruited in the North will be low for the next eight years, it was claimed today.

Dissident republicans in the North may have secured a cache of military grenades, it was feared today.

Northern Ireland Assembly member Declan O‘Loan was today suspended from the SDLP after he called for a united nationalist party.

Scottish Premier League chairman Lex Gold was today accused of “shying away” from dealing with alleged pro-IRA chanting by sections of the Celtic support.

A pipe bomb was discovered today in south Belfast.

The police must be given the extra resources they need to take the fight to dissident republicans, the DUP insisted today.

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.

Incoming Northern Police Ombudsman Al Hutchinson should carry out a root and branch overhaul to weed out those allegedly leaking sensitive security force material, a retired policeman said today.

The Ulster Unionist Party is united, a senior member insisted today.

The North's politicians found their appetite for devolved government again today.

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

Democratic Unionist MP Nigel Dodds, and Sinn Féin's policing spokesperson Gerry Kelly became the third and fourth Assembly members to be elected in the North's Assembly elections today, both capturing seats in North Belfast.

Northern Ireland Deputy Chief Constable Paul Leighton is to demand an internal report into how the security of thousands of serving and retired police officers in the province was compromised by a computer payslip gaffe.

A PAY SLIP gaffe may have compromised the security of thousands of people receiving salaries and pensions from the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

A payslip gaffe may have compromised the security of thousands of people receiving salaries and pensions from the Police Service of Northern Ireland, it was claimed today.

Detectives hunting petrol bombers who attacked a house in Belfast while a mother and teenage son slept inside were tonight following a definite line of inquiry.

A Democratic Unionist Party councillor has criticised the PSNI's intelligence capabilities following last weekend's raid on a Boots outlet in Belfast.

Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams was today comfortably elected in the British parliamentary elections in the North.

Counting is well underway in the North's Westminster elections. Preliminary results could be known as early as 2pm.

Harry McGee, Political Editor

THE British general election campaign has reached the half way point and is now beginning to heat up.

There will be a major realignment in unionism in Northern Ireland in the post-David Trimble and Ian Paisley era, it was claimed today.

A former MP today gave the Democratic Unionists a clear run in a bid to wrest away a safe Ulster Unionist seat in the general election.

Two leading members of the Ulster Unionist Party have endorsed the Democratic Unionist Party’s candidate for the upcoming British general election in the South Belfast constituency.

The Democratic Unionist Party is believed to have chosen a former head of the North's Police Federation as one of its candidate for the upcoming British election.

The University of Ulster was fiercely criticised today for its decision to confer an honorary degree on Chris Patten, one of the architects of police reform in Northern Ireland.

Police officers in Northern Ireland have voted overwhelmingly to reject a controversial new pay package, it was revealed today.

Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan is being threatened with legal action by representatives of senior officers and rank and file members of the police force in the North.

Many Northern police officers "could die" unless new tactics are introduced to help police clear rioters off the streets at flash points in North Belfast, the British government has been warned today.

Northern Ireland police tonight hit out at the Secretary of State Dr John Reid for failing to discuss with them an implementation plan aimed at introducing widespread reform.