Trimble fails to overturn ban ruling

Former Northern Ireland First Minister David Trimble today failed in his bid to overturn a High Court ruling that he acted illegally in banning Sinn Fein ministers from attending cross-border meetings.

In an Appeal Court ruling in Belfast Lord Chief Justice Carswell upheld a judgment earlier this year that the Ulster Unionist party leader had acted unlawfully in stopping Stormont Education Minister Martin McGuinness and Health Minister Bairbre de Brun from meeting their counterparts in the Republic of Ireland.