Peter Robinson prophets little in throwing the Book at UUP
In spite of being painted as the Mr Angry of Ulster politics, Peter Robinson does have a sense of humour – and even the ability to be self-deprecating.
In spite of being painted as the Mr Angry of Ulster politics, Peter Robinson does have a sense of humour – and even the ability to be self-deprecating.
AN influential group of around 14 Labour MPs have now joined the Tories in wanting a referendum on the UK's membership of the EU.
Pope Benedict did it. Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands did it. Ian Paisley did it. And now even Alex Ferguson is doing it: all stepped aside at a high point in their careers. Isn't it time for the Queen to consider following suit?
Did anyone wonder that there were no official receptions, or no meeting with ministers, during the Dalai Lama's visit to Londonderry last month?
Handling the successful development of the Maze site is a major opportunity and challenge to the two big parties, which must do the heavy lifting if it is to work.
At last, Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness feel that they have some leverage with the British Government.
Last week, I tried to find out when our car needed to go in for service, as the erroneous reminder popping up on the display was annoying me.
The stand-off between Sinn Fein and the DUP reminds me of North Korean diplomacy. I'm not hinting that either party resembles a secretive, Stalinist personality cult (perish the thought).
Flying flags from every lamp-post to mark out territory is one of the things that makes us seems most foreign to many visitors from other parts of the UK.
The truth is that it is only the tip of the iceberg, and, though it needs careful control, this budget may be the best money the police service ever spent.
Timing is everything, for politicians as well as comedians.
David Cameron's decision to push corporation tax back to autumn 2014 was hardly a surprise. Everyone has been predicting a long lead-in in the devolution of the tax-varying powers.
What would the leaders of Dublin's Easter Rising back in 1916 have made of this year's celebrations?
Give me a lever long enough and a place to stand and I will move the earth," the ancient Greek engineer Archimedes once boasted.
Siobhan Desmond's demand for an inquest into why her son, Axel, was born dead and could not be resuscitated could throw a spanner into the abortion debate.
David Burnside may have had the right idea when he proposed chartering opinion polls to see how the idea of unionist unity would go down.
When is it right to carry out a religious headcount in the justice system?
I recently asked David Ford, the justice minister, if Alliance ever considered withdrawing from the Executive. He ruled it out, arguing that, if he resigned the justice portfolio, it would be "too much of a shock to the system".
Nigel Lutton, the united unionist candidate in today's Mid Ulster by-election, is well-known in the victims' sector, where all speak well of him.
What would happen if there was no Parades Commission, as the Orange Order proposes?
Three-day festival underway in Derry
Video, pictures and finisihng times
Comedy with big following means blockbuster
The boat used to take people to the ill-fated Titanic is set to welcome passengers on board again after a £7 million refurbishment that took seven years to complete.
America's transport safety watchdog has warned that the Washington state bridge collapse is a wake-up call for the country.
Veteran director Roman Polanski says the birth control pill has had a "masculinising" effect on women and that the levelling of the sexes is "idiotic", in comments made at the Cannes Film Festival.
When Rob Webber was forced to undergo a second shoulder operation last summer and went through "dark days" wondering what the future held, he never envisaged it would be captaining his country.
Arjen Robben provided the perfect answer to the doubters by scoring an 88th-minute winner to settle a brilliant Champions League final in favour of Bayern Munich at Wembley.
Leinster put past disappointments behind them to scoop an elusive RaboDirect PRO12 title in head coach Joe Schmidt's last game in charge, with a 24-18 win over Ulster.
Investigators are looking into claims made by actress Amanda Bynes that New York Police Department officers sexually assaulted her when she was charged after allegedly throwing a marijuana bong out of the window of her 36th-floor Manhattan apartment.
Matthew Wright has revealed his best ever interview led to sitting next to Elizabeth Taylor at the Baftas.
Kevin Jonas has confessed he's pleased to be able to watch back arguments with his wife Danielle Deleasa on their reality TV series Married To Jonas.