THE routine for writing this column has remained largely unchanged for the past decade.

WE were sitting in a café on the Ormeau Road, talking football, when Declan Bogue told me that he was writing a book.

A vehicle was chased against the flow of traffic through Belfast city centre by police this morning before it crashed into a roundabout.

Two men have been arrested in connection with the murder of a Catholic teenager in Belfast 37 years ago, it has emerged today.

DRIVING along Belfast’s Ormeau Road on my way home from work recently, I spotted the early autumnal scene which signifies the arrival of a new academic year.

Fresh leads in a 37-year-old murder investigation prompted PSNI detectives to reopen the cold case today.

At least 200 suspects are being hunted by detectives investigating serious republican rioting in north Belfast, it was revealed today.

Protestants in the North face "ethnic cleansing" despite the peace process, the leader of the Orange Order claimed today.

Urgent talks are being held in Belfast today in a bid to end the plight of more than 100 Romanians forced to flee their homes after a spate of racist attacks.

Two men were arrested today in the North after a seven-hour stand-off with armed police ended peacefully.

Police in the North are investigating a bomb hoax in Portrush, Co Antrim last night.

TV journalists protested outside their studios in the North today over proposed job cuts.

A homeless man died from a drugs overdose days after being prescribed tablets by up to three different doctors, an inquest heard today.

A PRIME office property in Belfast has been acquired for €17 million on behalf of a group of Irish farmers.

A Catholic bus driver has been awarded almost £80,000 (€117,000) compensation for religious discrimination after he was warned he would be shot if the Troubles started again.

A man has been hit over the head with a gun during an armed robbery at a Belfast off-licence tonight.

Police in the North have appealed for witnesses to a hit and run incident, which resulted in a 10-year-old boy being injured.

A Sinn Féin MLA for South Belfast has appealed for the community to isolate racist incidents after a violent attack on a man in the south of the city.

A security van was today targeted in a robbery at a bank in south Belfast.

Community groups that promote the Irish language are being honoured at the annual Glór na nGael ceremony in Belfast today.

Police have seized a loyalist paramilitary weapons cache in Belfast, it emerged today.

Three men and a woman were today being questioned about a weapons seizure in Belfast.

Detectives hunting a rapist who struck in South Belfast, tonight charged a man.

Three men questioned about the hit-and-run death of a teenager in south Belfast were today released by police.

A 19-year-old man has died following a hit-and-run incident in south Belfast in the early hours of this morning.

MARY WHELAN had eight of her 10 daughters with her on her birthday trip to Rome.

An elderly woman was recovering in hospital today after she was dragged out of her bed and bundled downstairs by a burglar.

Oscar-winning actor Tim Robbins stunned drinkers in a Belfast pub when he dropped in and began jamming with a local folk band.

The second phase of a multi-million pound facelift for Belfast was launched today.

ONE of three teenagers killed in a horrific car crash in the North was preparing to begin a university career, it emerged last night.

One of three teenagers killed in a horrific car crash in Northern Ireland was preparing to begin a university career, it emerged tonight.

Three teenagers were killed today in a road accident in the North, police said.

A PSNI officer has suffered leg injuries after being knocked down by a car near the Ormeau Road in south Belfast early this morning.

The loyalist marching season today got off to one of its quietest and most peaceful starts for years.

Plans to close down 21 post office branches across Northern Ireland will “rip the heart out of urban and rural communities,” it was claimed today.

A Catholic grammar school in north Belfast was targeted tonight in a bomb attack.

A memorial to five people gunned down in a south Belfast bookmakers shop 11 years ago was vandalised today as the city prepared for another tense July 12.

A man’s body has been found in south Belfast, it emerged today.

A substantial arms find made in Belfast was today being linked to the Provisional IRA.

Two controlled explosions were carried out during a six-hour operation at a territorial army base last night in south Belfast.

Northern Ireland police mounted a major security operation in Belfast today as the funeral took place of the latest victim in the bitter internal loyalist feud.

Loyalist paramilitary chiefs ordered the execution of a colleague because he committed “treason”, it was claimed last night.

POLICE in Belfast last night urged the loyalist community to “shop” those involved in the bitter internal paramilitary feud which has now claimed its second life.

Police in Belfast tonight urged the loyalist community to “shop” those involved in the bitter internal paramilitary feud which has now claimed its second life.