Catholics living in Northern Ireland have called for a return to direct rule to end the political chaos, a senior British Conservative MP has said.

Sinn Féin and the Democratic Unionists are on course to reinforce their grip on power at Stormont, with the republican party closing the gap on their unionist rivals.

The polls have closed in the North's snap Assembly election.

Update: Northern Ireland's political leaders have cast their ballots in the region's snap election.

Stormont's First Minister has accused her Sinn Féin partners in government of playing a game of chicken over a green energy scheme scandal and warned she would not blink first.

Democratic Unionist leader Arlene Foster has hailed her party’s “tremendous” performance in the Northern Ireland Assembly election after an unexpected repeat of its best ever Stormont haul.

Democratic Unionist leader Arlene Foster has hailed her party's "tremendous" performance in the Northern Ireland Assembly election after an unexpected repeat of its best ever Stormont haul.

Democratic Unionist leader Arlene Foster has expressed confidence she will be returned as Northern Ireland’s first minister.

The North's retiring First Minister has said he is leaving the job confident that devolution has been secured for generations to come.

Arlene Foster will become the first woman to lead the North's powersharing Executive when she is elected first minister today.

As Peter Robinson prepares to step down as Northern Ireland’s first minister and leader of his Democratic Unionist Party, the race is on to succeed him.

The DUP has retained its position as the largest party in the North but the UUP is arguably celebrating harder after landing two surprise wins in the general election.

The DUP has retained its position as the largest party in the North, but the UUP is arguably celebrating harder after landing two surprise wins in the General Election.

The Democratic Unionists are this morning wondering if the post-election shakedown will hand them added influence at Westminster after a Northern Ireland poll that produced a couple of surprises.

A guest due to attend a Traveller wedding has died after being gunned down outside a church in the North.

One of two men shot attending a wedding in the North has died, police have said.

Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore has condemned last night's reported gun attack on a police station Co Fermanagh, calling it "cold blooded".

Detectives are treating the death of an East Timorese man in a suspected stabbing incident in Dungannon as murder.

Motorists across the North are being warned of road restrictions as security arrangements are in place ahead of tomorrow's G8 Summit.

WHEN Mark Thatcher went missing in the Sahara while taking part in an international motor race in Jan 1982, his ashen-faced mother, upset and distressed, appeared on television close to breaking down.

The North’s largest unionist party may support a poll on the region’s constitutional future, a senior member has indicated.

Police in the North have launched a new investigation into the Remembrance Day bombing at Enniskillen, it was revealed today.

Another delegation of victims of the Northern Ireland Troubles will today challenge Taoiseach Enda Kenny to apologise for alleged Government inaction against the IRA.

Ulster Unionist MLA John McCallister has expressed his disappointment after party leader Mike Nesbitt sacked him as deputy leader of the UUP’s Assembly team.

Paying for sex could become illegal in the North if proposed law changes are introduced.

The party whip has been withdrawn from Ulster Unionist peer Ken Maginnis after he linked homosexuality to bestiality.

Police in the North have said the object found on a small plane in the North last night was not an explosive device.

First Minister Peter Robinson's DUP has today accused the North's Boundary Commission of gerrymandering in a fierce attack on its proposals to reduce the number of Westminster seats to 16.

British prime minister Margaret Thatcher’s secret attempts to end the IRA hunger strikes are revealed in official documents made public for the first time today.

The car which was attacked in an apparent arson attack last night was parked in the driveway of Quinn Group CEO Paul O'Brien's home in Co Meath, it has emerged.

The story of the 2011 Assembly election has repeated the same plot-line that has been played out for the last 10 years in the North.

The Democratic Unionist Party’s Northern Ireland Assembly victory was tonight hailed as its greatest ever political triumph.

On the 30th anniversary of the death of Bobby Sands, the hunger striker is still regarded as a hero of republicanism, says Peter Geoghegan.

Air accident investigators have arrived at the scene of a helicopter crash that killed three people who were flying from the North to England, police confirmed tonight.

A court challenge against the election of Sinn Féin MP Michelle Gildernew in the Fermanagh and South Tyrone constituency has been rejected.

FORMER Ireland rugby international and Ulster Unionist Party member Trevor Ringland has said he will leave the party if new leader Tom Elliott does not change his attitude towards the GAA.

The new leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) faced his first resignation today after he was accused of snubbing gaelic games.

Unionists in the North are this morning set to begin a legal bid to unseat a Sinn Féin MP.

A woman stabbed to death in Co Tyrone was today named as Luisa Cabral Pereira Silva.

Fermanagh and South Tyrone MLA Tom Elliott confirmed today that he will run for the leadership of the Ulster Unionist Party.

A judicial challenge has been launched after Sinn Féin took the Fermanagh and South Tyrone Westminster seat by four votes, a courts spokeswoman confirmed today.

Northern Ireland Assembly member Declan O‘Loan was today suspended from the SDLP after he called for a united nationalist party.

TWO minutes after the BBC’s exit poll was announced last Thursday night, Iain Dale, the Conservative commentator, blogged: “Don’t panic chaps and chapesses.

The future of Democratic Unionist Party leader Peter Robinson was in doubt today after the sensational General Election defeat of the First Minister of the powersharing executive at Stormont.