The recent election of the IRA’s former head of intelligence to a prominent position in Sinn Féin north of the border is being viewed by some as an attempt to prepare the ground for the eventual election of a southern politician to take over from Gerry Adams.

Stalling development of a peace centre at a former paramilitary prison is a mistake that could jeopardise jobs and the peace process, Martin McGuinness has claimed.

The remnants of an infamous paramilitary jail have paved the way for the construction of a new agricultural showground in the North.

A former IRA leader in the Maze prison in the North was remanded in custody yesterday on charges linked to a police investigation into a murder outside a Belfast bar.

A former IRA leader in the Maze prison in the North was remanded into custody today on charges linked to a police investigation into a murder outside a Belfast bar.

The 1981 hunger strike resulted in a showdown between Margaret Thatcher and Ireland’s politicians, but ultimately in the deaths of 10 prisoners, writes Ryle Dwyer

THE Priory Hall scandal is not the first time property developer Thomas McFeely has been before the courts in recent years.

The funeral will take place today of David Wright, father of murdered loyalist terrorist Billy Wright.

Dessie Hughes feels Vic Venturi and In Compliance are ready to do themselves justice in the John Smith's Grand National on Saturday.

Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams is to meet his party's Dail team at Leinster House today.

The Long Road Home

Billy Wright’s father insisted today there was “firm and final” proof of state collusion in his son’s killing.

The official inquiry into the murder of Loyalist terrorist Billy Wright in the Maze Prison found that there was no “state collusion” in his killing, Northern Ireland Secretary Owen Paterson said today.

Maze prison escapee Brendan “Bik” McFarlane was today awarded €15,000 over his prosecution for the kidnap of supermarket boss Don Tidey.

Long-awaited plans for a controversial “Troubles museum” have been agreed in a new blueprint for redeveloping the North’s former top security Maze prison, it emerged today.

A Belfast man who escaped from the top-security Maze Prison in the North 26 years ago is expected to be deported from the US to the Republic later this week.

Plans for a sports stadium on the site of the former Maze prison have been scrapped, the North’s culture minister officially confirmed today.

A former IRA man and Maze prison escapee who has been living in the US for nearly 25 years has been denied the right to remain in the country.

The North's Executive will meet today for the first time since June after the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Sinn Féin agreed an end to their stand-off.

The North's First Minister Peter Robinson and deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness are today expected to confirm they have agreed a resolution to the stand-off that has prevented Executive meetings since June.

Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams told supporters in the US that he wants to reach an accommodation with unionism, but hit out at what he called its “Afrikaner wing”.

The North’s Culture Minister has given the clearest indication yet that proposals for a multi-sports stadium at the Maze prison site may be scrapped.

A national sports stadium for the North on the site of the old Maze prison today looked to be dead and buried – at least for the foreseeable future.

Judges are expected to rule today on whether incriminating statements allegedly made by a former IRA chief can be used against him in his trial on kidnap charges.

A former IRA chief charged over a violent kidnapping today denied implicating himself in the crime under intense police questioning and accused detectives of making up the claim.

The former head of Garda intelligence told a court today that he would have arrested former IRA leader Brendan 'Bik' Mc Farlanefor the kidnap of supermarket executive Don Tidey if had come face to face with him.

A former IRA chief told detectives investigating the kidnapping of a supermarket boss that he was at a hidden camp where the captive was held, it was claimed in court today.

Maze prison escapee Brendan McFarlane was arrested just hours before the Northern Ireland Secretary of State Mo Mowlam was due to sign his final papers releasing him from parole, the Special Criminal Court heard today.

A retired Garda ballistics expert told the Don Tidey kidnap trial today that he concluded that gunfire from two automatic weapons had been fired in the direction of a recruit garda and soldier who were killed when the supermarket executive was rescued almost twenty five years ago.

The trial of a former IRA chief charged over the kidnapping of a businessman 25 years ago continues today.

Prosecution witnesses will begin giving evidence today in the trial of a former IRA chief allegedly involved in the kidnapping of a supermarket boss 25 years ago.

Maze prison escapee Brendan 'Bik' McFarlane went on trial at the Special Criminal Court in Dublin today for the 1983 kidnapping of supermarket boss Don Tidey during which a trainee garda and soldier were killed.

A film about the Bobby Sands hunger strike which scooped an honour at Cannes will “have a resonance across the world”, its co-producer said.

A film about an IRA hunger strike in a prison in the North has won an international award tonight.

Critics of a new film about the republican hunger strikes in the North should watch it before they attack it, one of the strikers said today.

Stormont Finance Minister Peter Robinson will receive today his officials’ assessment of a business case for a multi-sports stadium proposed on the site of the Maze Prison.

A FILM about life in the Maze prison and the highly emotive events surrounding the 1981 IRA hunger strike was screened as part of the Cannes Film Festival yesterday to considerable critical acclaim.

The manufacturers of a Belfast version of Monopoly have been urged to scrap the ’Go to Jail’ card with one which declares: ’Go to Dublin.’

Plans for a £240m (€313m) multi-sports stadium project at the site of the former Maze prison is unlikely to get government go ahead, it emerged today.

THE Supreme Court has cleared the way for the trial of Maze Prison escapee Brendan “Bik” McFarlane on charges connected with the 1983 kidnapping of supermarket boss Don Tidey.

Maze prison escapee Brendan McFarlane today lost his latest legal challenge to stop his trial over the kidnap of a supermarket boss 25 years ago.

A £240m (€318m) multi-sports stadium project for the North should be built at the former Maze prison, a leaked consultants' report revealed today.