Assembly Speaker Edwin Poots has notified the First Minister and deputy First Minister that the democratic consent process has begun.

Different challenges against a High Court judgment on the contentious legacy laws were mounted by bereaved relatives and the UK government.

Naomi Long also said her party could be in contention to win seats in up to six constituencies in Northern Ireland

Mr Justice Humphreys said the Act would result in a diminution of rights enjoyed by asylum seekers in Northern Ireland under the Good Friday Agreement

A British House of Lords committee said it is estimated around a third of veterinary medicines currently used in the region are at risk of discontinuation

Fine Gael leader Simon Harris has also vowed to work with governments across the UK to ‘realise the full potential’ of all communities.

The DUP introduced the applicability motion at Stormont

Sinn Féin described a motion brought by the DUP as a ‘sham fight’

The unionist party is to use an applicability motion at Stormont on Tuesday to allow the Northern Ireland Assembly to vote on a new EU regulation.

A Defra official said the number has come down from an estimated 51 per cent last year due to negotiations with stakeholders.

The DUP leader said the agreement is not perfect, but he is ‘satisfied’ with the outcome

Tánaiste Micheál Martin is in Belfast to meet with Northern Ireland's political party leaders and business leaders

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said the changes show the ‘naysayers are wrong’.

The loyalist activist has denied he misrepresented elements of the meeting in social media posts

The DUP has stayed out of the institutions at Stormont for almost two years.

South Belfast MLA Edwin Poots denounced those in the wider unionist movement for criticising a deal with the Government which has not concluded.

The template letter campaign calling on the DUP to maintain its Stormont boycott is an initiative of loyalist advocacy group Let’s Talk Loyalism.

The relatively short extension suggests the Government is hopeful that progress can be made in the coming fortnight.

The DUP leader said no agreement had been reached which would allow the devolved powersharing institutions to return

Leo Varadkar said any change to the rules of the powersharing institutions could be negotiated before the next Assembly election

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald has repeated her call for the DUP to return to the Stormont executive.

UK Northern Ireland secretary Chris Heaton-Harris said negotiations with the DUP over post-Brexit trade arrangements have not concluded

The DUP has been in negotiation with the UK government to secure legislative assurances of Northern Ireland’s economic position in the UK

The UK Northern Ireland secretary was attending a meeting of the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference

The Sinn Féin vice-president met with Scottish first minister Humza Yousaf on Wednesday

The UK's Northern Ireland secretary Chris Heaton-Harris said he did not accept the remarks during the exchange in the UK's House of Commons

Peter Robinson said there is still a ‘gap’ between the DUP and the British government.

The Sinn Féin party president claims the public’s patience with the DUP blockade of Stormont has ‘worn out’

The main unionist party is boycotting the powersharing institutions at Stormont in protest at post-Brexit trading arrangements.

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson addressed a meeting of his party executive in Lurgan, Co Armagh on Thursday night.

There had been speculation over the planned gathering in Lurgan, Co Armagh in terms of the party’s Stormint boycott

In response to a letter sent by loyalist activist Jamie Bryson, the DUP leader said his party would not be intimidated over any return to Stormont.

The DUP has been blocking powersharing in protest at post-Brexit trade arrangements

Goods to be sold in Northern Ireland will use a ‘green lane’ with minimal paperwork and no checks.

The Sinn Féin vice-president said she wanted to see a plan from the Irish and British governments to restore the powersharing institutions in the North