Northern Ireland chiefs have poured cold water on a proposal by Irish Taoiseach Enda Kenny for an all-Ireland soccer team.

Dubliner Robert Barrable is aiming for glory in this year's Circuit of Ireland rally which is set to begin this weekend.

Four men charged with offences arising out of the discovery of two mortars in Co Louth last year have received sentences totalling 21½ years at the Special Criminal Court in Dublin today.

Sixteen police officers were injured in rioting in Belfast in the wake of the Twelfth of July Orange Order parades.

Police in the North have come under attack for the second consecutive night as violence flared following Orange Order parades in Belfast.

An influential priest accused the Irish ambassador to the US of trying to thwart attempts to raise the case of the Birmingham Six.

Four men were charged at the Special Criminal Court in Dublin today in connection with the discovery of a mortar in Co Louth on Tuesday and garda investigations into the activities of the dissident terrorist group, Oglaigh na hEireann.

Four men were charged at the Special Criminal Court in Dublin today in connection with the discovery of a mortar in Co Louth on Tuesday and garda investigations into the activities of the dissident terrorist group, Oglaigh na hÉireann.

The former leader of the INLA in Dublin, Declan 'Whacker' Duffy, today publicly turned his back on the terrorist group and pleaded guilty to an INLA membership charge.

The mother of a man beaten to death by republicans today broke down as she appealed for justice.

The suspected leader of the INLA in Dublin was further remanded in custody until next month when he appeared briefly at the Special Criminal Court today.

An additional £14m (€17.92m) is to be spent replacing 26 fire stations across the North, it was announced today.

An “extensive” garda file on the suspected leader of the INLA in Dublin is currently being compiled, the Special Criminal Court heard today.

A Northern Ireland man arrested as part of a Garda Special Branch investigation into INLA activity in Dublin has had his bail application adjourned for a third time as the defence was not ready to proceed.

A man from the North, arrested as part of a Garda Special Branch investigation into INLA activity in Dublin, was charged at a special sitting of the Special Criminal Court tonight with membership of the terrorist organisation.

The Catholic Primate and Archbishop of Armagh Dr Sean Brady is tonight preparing to be made a Cardinal in the Vatican.

Northern Ireland can have its own “Celtic Tiger” boom with the backing of the British and Irish Governments, Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness said today.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said there is great scope for cross-border cooperation on a range of projects as he arrived at today's North-South council meeting.

Ministers from newly-formed governments in Dublin and Belfast will today meet for landmark talks in Armagh City.

Cash machine thieves have cleared bank accounts as part of a scam centred in Armagh City, police revealed today.

The age at which young people begin driving on the North’s roads was challenged by the Presbyterian Moderator today.

The Irish and British governments were tonight united in their insistence that plans to unveil proposals for a new power-sharing executive will go ahead on Thursday as planned despite the killing of Denis Donaldson.

DNA tests yesterday confirmed that the body pulled from a canal in the North was suspected IRA murder victim Gareth O’Connor.

DNA tests have confirmed that the body pulled from a canal in Northern Ireland was suspected IRA murder victim Gareth O’Connor, police revealed tonight.

New tests will be carried out today on a body pulled from a canal in a bid to confirm it is a suspected IRA murder victim.

DETECTIVES in the North investigating the disappearance of a man thought to have been abducted by the IRA, last night, said they have been unable to formally identify a body recovered from a canal.

Detectives investigating the disappearance of Gareth O’Connor tonight said they have been unable to formally identify a body recovered from a canal.

AN electrician is to be charged later this month with murdering 29 people who died in the Omagh bomb massacre, the High Court in the North was told yesterday.

An electrician is to be charged later this month with murdering 29 people who died in the Omagh bomb massacre, the Northern Ireland High Court was told today.

A man is to be charged with murdering the 29 people who died in the Omagh bomb atrocity, it emerged tonight.

Church and political leaders in Northern Ireland had a vested interest in preventing children of different religions being educated together, former Northern Ireland Secretary Mo Mowlam said today.

Charges of Real IRA membership against four Northern Ireland men, including missing Armagh man Garreth O' Connor, were withdrawn by the State at the Special Criminal Court in Dublin today.

A MAN with suspected links to al-Qaida was questioned in Belfast yesterday by detectives investigating possible terrorist plots in Britain.

A pregnant woman has escaped injury in an arson attack on her home in Co Armagh.

A LARGE-SCALE police and army operation to arrest a couple for questioning in connection with the Omagh bombing has been branded as “over the top” by a councillor who lives nearby.

THE father of an Armagh man missing since May has rubbished IRA assertions they had nothing to do with his disappearance.

The British government was accused today of sacrificing moderate unionism as it pushed through plans to scale down the Army presence in Northern Ireland.

The date of the showdown between rival wings of the Ulster Unionist Party over the British and Irish governments’ plans for the peace process will be June 16, sources confirmed tonight.

Pro-Good Friday Agreement Ulster Unionists were today challenged to point to any benefits for their supporters in the British and Irish Governments’ blueprint for the peace process.

THE British government yesterday denied any decision had been taken to scrap the Royal Irish Regiment.

A Northern Ireland man arrested by Special Branch detectives near the border last month was a member of a dissident republican organisation on his way to commit serious crime, the Special Criminal Court heard today.

Four Northern Ireland men arrested in Co Monaghan earlier this month were members of a Real IRA active service unit preparing to commit serious crime, the Special Criminal Court heard today.

Four men who were arrested in Co Monaghan last Friday were charged at the Special Criminal Court in Dublin today with membership of an illegal organisation.