Northern Ireland’s First Minister Peter Robinson has paid tribute to the late Ian Paisley as the undisputed leader of unionism.

The family of an Irish woman killed in the June 2009 Air France plane crash in the Atlantic which claimed the lives of 228 people has given up hope of her body being recovered.

UNDERSEA robots have located bodies, motors and a “large part” of an Air France jet that plunged into the Atlantic Ocean in 2009, in which three young Irish women died.

THEY come in the early morning before first light or at dead of night, armed with trucks and animal transporters.

A TOTAL of 242 Irish people died in tragic circumstances while away for holidays or work so far in 2009 – the highest number of deaths abroad ever recorded by the Department of Foreign Affairs.

One of the three young Irish doctors killed in last month's Air France disaster is due to be laid to rest in Dublin this afternoon.

THE remains of one of the three young Irish doctors lost in the air crash off Brazil five weeks ago are on their way home after a positive identification was made from a body recovered from the sea.

A memorial service has been held in Co Down for a young doctor killed in the Air France crash two weeks ago.

GARDA forensic experts are to fly to Brazil to help identify the bodies of people who perished in the Air France plane disaster a week ago.

Two Irish detectives are being sent to Brazil to help identify the bodies pulled from the Atlantic Ocean after the Air France disaster, it was announced today.

Search crews have found two bodies believed to be from the missing Air France flight which disappeared over the Atlantic with five Britons on board, Brazil’s air force said today.

HOPES grew for three Irish families that their loved ones’ final resting place will be traced after wreckage thought to be from the missing Air France plane was spotted in seas off the coast of northern Brazil.

THE family of one of three young Irish women on board the Air France airliner spoke yesterday of their heartbreak at the loss of their daughter.

Families of two young Irish doctors on board the Air France airliner that vanished over the Atlantic spoke today of their heartbreak at the loss of their daughters.

The family of one of three young Irish women onboard the Air France airliner that vanished over the Atlantic Ocean spoke today of their heartbreak at the loss of their daughter.

SIXTY of the 99 workers in a west Limerick manufacturing plant are to lose their jobs and a further 60 jobs are under threat at the Limerick Brothers of Charity Services.

THREE priests from the north yesterday prepared for global superstardom by signing a £1 million (€1.2m) contract with music giant Sony BMG.

A MOTHER sobbed quietly in a courtroom yesterday as her husband recalled the horror moment when an A&E doctor told him their only son had died from injuries received in a soccer camp accident.

A woman is dead following a road accident in Co Down.

Three men have died following separate road accidents in Wexford, Kerry and Louth.

Three teenagers were killed in a road accident in the Castlereagh area of east Belfast, police said today.

A new national standard for Irish bottled water has been launched.

A schoolgirl and a surfer were tonight chosen to represent Ireland in a worldwide competition to find the next supermodel.

A father-of-two was shot dead by a gunman in his Co Down home in a paramilitary-style attack just weeks after a fall out with people in the area, an inquest heard today.

A woman claimed today she was persecuted by her boss because of her “happy clappy” religious views.

Police investigating the murder of a man in Co Down a year ago have issued a fresh appeal for witnesses to come forward.

A sex abuse victim who stabbed his uncle to death in a fit of rage was jailed for life at Belfast Crown Court today.

LOYALISTS were last night suspected of murdering a man after getting his young son to send him to the front door if his Co Down home.

Police have named the man shot dead in Belfast last night.

A man was shot dead on the doorstep of his home in Ballygowan, Co Down, tonight.

A 30-year-old man is due in court in the North tomorrow charged with the murder of a man in Co Down.