Northern Ireland Assembly Election 2017 - Results - Belfast Telegraph

A former special adviser has denied trying to fit up Jonathan Bell (Liam McBurney/PA)

Suzanne Breen: DUP will struggle to recover from devastating RHI revelations

The claim that DUP minister Jonathan Bell was so drunk that he was asked to leave a New York bar has dominated media coverage of his former special adviser's evidence to the RHI Inquiry.

Jim Allister reveals the cost of report to cut MLA's pay

TUV leader, Jim Allister has revealed that a report to cut MLA's pay, which was given to the Secretary of State cost £4,696.65.

DUP leader Arlene Foster pictured at the party's manifesto launch

'Sinn Fein only party with red-lines': Foster responds to O'Neill's power-sharing remarks

DUP leader Arlene Foster has dismissed claims by Sinn Fein's Michelle O'Neill that the DUP have given up on power-sharing with nationalists in Northern Ireland.

I'm embarrassed: UUP's Stewart says salaries 'can't go on' as MLAs notch up £1.1m in pay

An MLA has said he is embarrassed that he and the 89 others elected in March are still being paid - despite the Northern Ireland political institutions being in limbo.

Election workers count parties’ votes after the Assembly poll

3,500 turned away from polling stations during Northern Ireland election

A report on March's Assembly election has revealed almost 3,500 people turned out to vote, but were turned away because they were not properly registered to take part.

Former Ulster Unionist Party leader and former first minister David Trimble

Devolved government in Northern Ireland could function without an executive: David Trimble

Devolved government in Northern Ireland could function without an executive and should consider continuing as just an assembly, a former first minister has said.

Ian Paisley warned that the Ministerial Appointments and Regional Rates Bill has 'tipped the scales in favour' of direct rule

MPs back extra time to allow Stormont parties to strike a powersharing deal

Emergency powers to give Stormont's rowing parties extra time to strike a powersharing deal have been backed by MPs, amid fears of direct rule returning.

Laurence Robertson is chairman of the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee

Northern Ireland Catholics want direct rule to end 'chaos', claims senior Tory MP

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

Irish language activists protest at the Education Authority headquarters in Belfast

Nelson McCausland: A stand-alone Irish Language Act is divisive and ignores Ulster-Scots' rich heritage

Northern Ireland is an English-speaking community with two indigenous minority languages, Irish Gaelic and Ulster-Scots. However Sinn Fein continue to demand a stand-alone Irish Language Act, with Irish Gaelic as an official language in Northern Ireland alongside English. They want to ignore our linguistic plurality and replace it with a divisive linguistic polarity.

Sinn Fein’s Michelle O’Neill and the DUP’s Arlene Foster will need to compromise

Whether they like it or not, Sinn Fein and DUP must work together

Nineteen years on from the Good Friday Agreement we are, once again, shuffling towards an impasse in what has felt like an interminable cycle of talks. The Secretary of State’s, James Brokenshire’s, decision to hit the pause button will, like as not, be met with weary resignation by the plain people of Northern Ireland despite the fact that they turned out in large numbers at the polls just six weeks ago.

DUP leader Arlene Foster and deputy leader Nigel Dodds speak to the media, on the grounds of Stormont Castle, after the UK government warned that failure to form a new powersharing executive in Northern Ireland by early May will force another snap election or a return to direct rule from London. PA

Arlene Foster: We want to respect and better understand the Irish language

DUP leader Arlene Foster has promised to better understand the Irish language as she announced a series of meetings with supporters of the tongue.

Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams, alongside Sinn Fein leader for Northern Ireland Michelle O'Neill, speaking to the media in the Great Hall, Stormont. PA

Gerry Adams: 'Talks impasse is about modest but important matters, far bigger problems overcome in the past'

Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams reiterated his view that progress could only be made if the DUP signed up to "rights-based" institutions.

DUP leader Arlene Foster speaking in Great Hall of Parliament Buildings, Belfast

DUP accuses Sinn Fein of making new demands ahead of Stormont deal deadline

The DUP has accused Sinn Fein of not being serious about wanting to reach an agreement to restore the Stormont government.

James Brokenshire invites parties to 'restructured' talks, but hopes of a deal are not high

A fresh round of intensive talks to restore power-sharing at Stormont will begin on Monday but political sources remain deeply pessimistic about the chances of a breakthrough.

No election, but DUP and Sinn Fein push voter registration

The DUP and Sinn Fein insist they are not mobilising for another election despite both parties advertising voting clinics this month.

Prime Minister Theresa May in the cabinet signs the Article 50 letter, as she prepares to trigger the start of the UK's formal withdrawal from the EU on Wednesday.

PM finally triggers Brexit and we face a long, hot summer of discontent

On March 29, 1673, the-then English Parliament introduced the Test Act, penalising Catholics and non-conformists alike.

Martin McGuinness adopted John Hume’s bold vision of peaceful change

Why Sinn Fein dishonoured McGuinness's political legacy by pulling the plug on talks

Securing a Stormont deal would have been fitting memorial to their late colleague, says Alban Maginness.

Sinn Fein's leader at Stormont Michelle O'Neill. Pic: Niall Carson/PA Wire

Stormont crisis: Direct rule in Northern Ireland not an option, Sinn Fein says

Reintroducing direct rule in Northern Ireland would be an act of bad faith by the UK government, Sinn Fein has warned.

Secretary of State James Brokenshire has few options as he picks through the debris of the talks

Direct rule is inevitable as long as 'pragmatism' remains a dirty word

The widely anticipated failure of the post-election negotiations has come to pass and, predictably, the blame game is well under way.

Ruth Dudley Edwards: McGuinness asked how I'd deal with the Northern Ireland situation: 'I'd intern you and Adams,' I said

I first met Martin McGuinness in 1996. I lived in London and had come late to political journalism, having written my first article in 1994 because I was horrified at the mostly wimpish coverage of the IRA in the Republic.

Cynical commercialism: retailers have been bombarding us with suggestions for the 'ideal' Mother's Day gift

Call me cynical, but the patronising notion of Mother's Day is a calculated insult to women the world over

Surely, I am not the only person who is suspicious of Mother's Day? It's been going on for weeks now, the department store displays of suggested gifts for the person who brought you into the world, the newspaper inserts reminding you to buy her an oversized bouquet of lilies (if you're feeling flush) or carnations (if you're on a budget).

Tick-tock: Stormont's new First Minister and Deputy First Minister must be nominated by Monday at 4pm

Stormont talks: Sinn Fein accuses Government of delaying deal on legacy issues as deadline looms

The British Government has been accused of delaying a deal on addressing the legacy of the conflict as Northern Ireland negotiations reach a critical stage.

UUP leadership: Robin Swann is throwing his hat in the ring

Robin Swann to make UUP leadership bid following Mike Nesbitt resignation

Ulster Unionist MLA Robin Swann has announced he will contest the UUP's leadership election following Mike Nesbitt's resignation.

Arlene Foster and Michelle O’Neill must decide if power-sharing can ever work here

Martin McGuinness was right: there can be no return to the status quo - but what do we put in its place?

On November 21, 2016, Martin McGuinness and Arlene Foster agreed a joint statement. Here is the opening paragraph: "Day by day, slowly but surely, politics here is changing. And it's for the better. The focus is increasingly now on policies and delivery - on finding the best ways to make people's lives better.

The funeral of Martin McGuinness makes its way through Derry

Martin McGuinness funeral: At the last, it was the IRA man being buried, not the mere politician

Ian Paisley explained that he was able to look past Martin McGuinness's past as an IRA commander because, as a fellow Christian, he was bound to consider it more important how a man ended his life than how he began it.

Martin McGuinness and Mairia Cahill in her younger years

Mairia Cahill: Martin McGuinness and me

I'm one of those people who think that speaking ill of the dead is not particularly helpful. However, I am not a hypocrite and I don't believe in glossing over history when someone does pass away. I remember how hurtful it was when my Uncle Joe - reported to be a one-time leader of the IRA - died after a long illness and how reading the different comments flung around on the internet was painful.

The Dublin government who sit in Leinster House has questions to answer over transparency, says Nelson McCausland

When is Dublin going to come clean about the extent of their collusion with republicans?

In recent years, there has been a lot of talk about the past and it is one of the issues in the current political talks. There have been demands for greater transparency by the British Government, with some critics demanding that they open up all, or almost all, of their security files for scrutiny.

NI Assembly Election

September 2018