A 34-year-old Catholic man and his three children have escaped injury in a gun attack on their home in a mainly Protestant estate in Co Down this morning.

POLICE probing a major loyalist paramilitary weapons dump in Northern Ireland last night charged a man with possessing guns and explosives.

Weapons seized from a loyalist arms dump will undergo ballistic tests to establish if they were used in recent sectarian murders, it was confirmed today.

A senior loyalist today rejected claims by Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams that British intelligence has urged the Ulster Defence Association to re-group under one supreme commander.

British intelligence has urged the Ulster Defence Association to regroup under one supreme commander, Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams claimed today.

Three men were today in hospital after being shot in the legs in apparent paramilitary style attacks in a republican area of north Belfast.

Catholics and Protestants came together to pray for peace today as tensions continued to mount ahead of the peak to the loyalist marching season.

Police in the North have uncovered weapons and explosives during searches last night in the Whitewell area of north Belfast.

Shots were fired at police as they kept apart rival mobs during the latest bout of sectarian rioting in strife-torn north Belfast.

Several people were tonight injured during the latest bout of sectarian rioting in strife-torn north Belfast.

Rioting has flared tonight in a number of flashpoint areas of north Belfast.

Police in the North have established a special unit in an effort to identify those responsible for rioting in the Ardoyne, Limestone Road and Whitewell areas of north Belfast.

There is considerable concern in the nationalist community at the lack of action by the security forces to deal with loyalist violence in North Belfast, a Sinn Fein Assembly member said tonight.

Rioting has erupted on the streets of north Belfast as angry mobs threw petrol bombs and blast bombs at police.

An elderly man has had a lucky escape after his bungalow was targeted in a petrol bomb attack in north Belfast.

The Red Hand Defenders have claimed responsibility for today’s murder of a Belfast postal worker.

One youth is being held by police after violence flared in the flashpoint Whitewell area of north Belfast.

There was another night of violence in Belfast last night, which left several people wounded.

There has been fresh rioting in the Limestone Road area of north Belfast.

Loyalists were today blamed for the second day running for pipe bombs which exploded in a flashpoint area of north Belfast.

A 32-year-old woman was today charged with murder following the death of Protestant teenager in north Belfast.

Detectives investigating the death of a Protestant teenager in the Whitewell area of north Belfast will revisit the area today to try to identify witnesses.

A nail bomb and a blast bomb has been thrown at police during disturbances on the flashpoint Ardoyne Road.

Pupils at a north Belfast Catholic primary school were expected to return to school today despite the violence which plagued the start of the new term.

Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams has said that attacks on Protestant homes and property go against the beliefs of the republican movement.

Nine RUC officers were injured in another night of sectarian violence in Belfast last night.