* January 6: Three members of UDR killed by an IRA landmine near Castlewellan, Co Down.

Foreign Affairs Minister Micheál Martin is visiting the North later to see first-hand the problems leading some young people to turn to dissident republican activity.

Relatives of 11 people shot dead in the Ballymurphy massacre in the North in August 1971 have said they are disappointed they haven't received a commitment on an independent investigation.

The Claudy bombings of July 31, 1972, in which nine innocent people – five Catholics and four Protestants – were killed in Co Derry are now history, but they have an immediacy with the publication yesterday of the report of the Northern Ireland Police Ombudsman, Al Hutchinson.

Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny has explained his party's reasons for refusing to go into government with Sinn Féin after the next election.

REVIVED Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny is prepared to offer defeated rebel Richard Bruton a return to the front bench in exchange for a pledge of absolute loyalty.

The Justice Minister and the Northern Secretary are to hold a security summit on how to crack down on terrorist violence.

THE Democratic Unionist Party moved to force last-minute concessions from London last night as the Northern power-sharing crisis reached its endgame.

THE North’s roller-coaster negotiations to end the crisis over policing which threatens to bring down power-sharing pushed on through the supposed deadline for a deal last night.

Northern Secretary Shaun Woodward said today he remained “confident” that a deal would be reached on the handover of policing and justice powers to the Stormont executive.

Foreign Affairs Minister Micheál Martin has held talks with Northern Secretary Shaun Woodward in London today on the devolution of policing and justice powers to Stormont.

The British Government's Northern Secretary Shaun Woodward has agreed to meet relatives of the Bloody Sunday victims to discuss the latest delay in the final report from the Saville Inquiry.

PSNI chief constable Hugh Orde has said he hopes the British government will give him an extra £66m (€72.2m) to fight the threat from dissident republicans.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has visited the Massereene military barracks in Co Antrim this morning following the murder of two British soldiers by dissident republicans on Saturday night.

Legislation to enable the devolution of policing and justice from London to Belfast will be introduced in the British parliament before the end of the month, it was announced today.

Elements of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) hark back to the days of unionist rule and hope to undermine Northern Ireland's power-sharing government, Sinn Fein claimed today.

THE IRA has effectively disbanded as a paramilitary force with the army council no longer functional, peace process watchdogs declared yesterday.

The IRA's ruling Army Council which once directed its campaign of violence is no longer operational, a major report revealed today.

British prime Minister Gordon Brown meets Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams today for talks to try to ensure devolution in the North does not collapse.

The British government has warned loyalists that they must begin decommissioning their arms or the rights they have under current legislation will be ended and the decommissioning body wound up.

A legal challenge from the family of a man murdered in Co Armagh after alleged security force inaction will go ahead in June, it was revealed today.

IF recent events showed a week can be a long time in politics, then a decade can be an eternity.

BERTIE AHERN yesterday admitted the Mahon corruption probe had been a factor in his resignation decision.

The North's Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness said today he would have killed every single British soldier in Derry in the aftermath of Bloody Sunday if he had been able to.

THE North was in a virtual political vacuum throughout 1977, as there was no single recognised political leader within either the Nationalist or Unionist communities. The Dublin government had a twin policy designed primarily to ensure the British protected the rights of the minority in the North and encouraged agreement on a power-sharing basis.

THE year 1977 was not a great one from the standpoint of the state papers. Historically, the most important events were related to that year’s general election. As the civil servants were not formally involved, the elections were glossed over in the state papers.

Loyalist terror groups need to catch up with the IRA in convincing people in the North they are committed to abandoning paramilitarism and crime, Shaun Woodward said today.

Politicians in the North have more work to do if they are to deliver full devolution to their constituents, Northern Secretary Shaun Woodward claimed today.

The British government was accused today of failing to deliver on a pledge to fund an investigative unit re-examining murders from the North’s Troubles.

Victims' relatives are being vilified for demanding the truth about controversial killings linked to the security services in the North, it was claimed today.

Three groups representing victims of the Troubles have rejected the British government's consultative panel on how to deal with the past.

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.

A former Sinn Féin mayor of Derry is to join the party’s first three Assembly representatives on the Northern Ireland Policing Board.

It could have been a humdrum day in any parliament, with low-key speeches in a hushed, panelled and pillared room.

The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) is to assume a non-military, civilianised role after putting its weapons beyond use, the loyalist paramilitary organisation announced today.

DUP leader Ian Paisley and Sinn Féin's chief negotiator Martin McGuinness have jointly called on the Northern Secretary Peter Hain to quit his offices before devolution returns to the North.

Ian Paisley and Gerry Adams began their first ever face-to-face talks today in a last-ditch bid to rescue devolution in the North.

THE countdown to what should have been the North’s devolution day has seen frantic diplomatic activity from Belfast to Berlin, via Downing Street.

DEADLINES, like rules, are made to be broken. Especially in Northern Ireland, where every deadline imposed by the Irish and British governments down the years has been brushed aside by loyalists or nationalist, or both.

Ian Paisley could hold his first face-to-face meeting with Gerry Adams in a bid to keep devolution hopes alive in the North, it was claimed tonight.

The Northern Secretary Peter Hain has not ruled out extending the devolution deadline but says the parties must themselves reach a consensus on it.

The Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams has said he is disappointed with the outcome of a DUP meeting calling for a six-week delay in power-sharing.

Northern Secretary Peter Hain has hinted that some kind of fudge deal may be reached to delay the full restoration of power-sharing in the North.

British Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown will reveal today his final offer of a financial package to politicians in the North to bolster the return of devolved government.