The rugby star killed in a farming tragedy alongside his brother and his father was hailed by teammates as a wonderful sportsman and person.

Ulster rugby star Nevin Spence was killed alongside his brother and their father in a farming tragedy which also injured their sister in the North.

SERIAL killer Robert Black’s fourth murder conviction will prompt further investigations into other unsolved child disappearances, police said last night.

The jury in serial killer Robert Black’s latest murder trial are set to begin a second day of deliberations.

The jury in serial killer Robert Black’s latest murder trial has been sent home for the day after failing to reach a verdict after almost three hours of deliberations.

The jury in serial killer Robert Black’s latest murder trial will retire to consider its verdict today.

The jury in serial killer Robert Black's latest murder trial must not let their opinion of him cloud their judgment, his defence lawyer urged.

Lawyers representing serial killer Robert Black in his latest murder trial called a solitary witness as they set out the case for the defence in under two hours.

Serial child killer Robert Black prowled crowded beaches hunting out opportunities to spy on and play with young girls, his latest murder trial has heard.

A Scottish van driver accused of murdering a schoolgirl told police he often used the stretch of road off which her body was found, his trial has heard.

SUZANNE BEANEY apparently never retired from international hockey — her last appearance in an Irish jersey came in 2006 — but there’s little doubting the Pegasus hotshot is still one of the best forwards in the business.

A man wanted in the North for kidnapping a well-known republican in Belfast six years ago appeared before the High Court in Dublin today, following his arrest in the Republic on foot of a European Arrest Warrant.

Detectives who charged a dentist and his ex lover with the murders of their former partners are investigating a third death, it was revealed today.

New data-sharing measures should stop sex offenders exploiting the border to flee the authorities, the justice minister said today.

A MAN shot and killed in the North may have been the victim of a falling-out between dissident republicans.

A 25-year-old man was today being questioned by police about the double murder of two teenagers in Northern Ireland.

A bomb alert which forced the abandonment of one of Northern Ireland’s top horse racing meetings was today declared an elaborate hoax.

Ian Graham

Drug Squad officers in the North tonight seized cannabis worth £2.75m (€3.9m).

THE Ulster Unionist Party could implode if its leader David Trimble continues to engage in a “vendetta” against his critics, rebel MP Jeffrey Donaldson has warned.

The Green Party has said some of its TDs may participate in this evening's protest against US President George W Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair's war summit in Hillsborough, Co Down.

The Irish and British governments yesterday both looked forward to new Northern Ireland Assembly elections going ahead on schedule in May after a series of political exchanges in Dublin.

The British government has announced £3m (€4.5m) in funding for efforts to break the stranglehold of loyalist paramilitaries in deprived areas in the North.

Foreign Minister Brian Cowen today pointed to the “corrosive impact” of para-military activity on the Northern Ireland peace process.

With the deaths of 29 people in the 1998 Omagh bombing, the Real IRA succeeded in carrying out the worst single atrocity in more than 30 years of violence in Northern Ireland.

Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble and his party critics remained bitterly divided tonight as efforts to find common ground over power sharing with Sinn Fein failed.

A senior Ulster Unionist has hinted his party will boycott the Stormont Assembly if it is unhappy with the British government’s declaration on paramilitary violence and the IRA ceasefire.

Northern Ireland Secretary John Reid was expected to meet senior loyalists in Belfast today to discuss growing sectarian tensions in the city.

A man was arrested today for questioning about the seizure of a major haul of republican explosives in Northern Ireland over two years ago.

A former priest who helped broker the IRA ceasefire was today appointed to one of the top posts in the new Northern Ireland Police board.

The issue of IRA weapons will not be resolved on British or unionist terms, Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams said tonight.

Paramilitary elements could be planning to provoke violence in Northern Ireland when Orangemen stage a protest demonstration at Drumcree on Sunday, it was claimed today.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair will meet the Democratic Unionists after Downing Street talks next week involving the other Northern Ireland parties, it was confirmed today.

The British Government was accused by Orangemen today of tolerating a system of "cultural apartheid" in the North.

The Garvaghy Rd residents are to meet the Parades Commission today to discuss their concerns about an Orange parade being allowed to hold a rally close to the area on Saturday.