Ambulance service is 'close to broken' as emergency call-outs are expected to soar over Halloween

David Tweed dies following Dunseverick road crash

Westlife announce new tour - with no dates in Northern Ireland

Frances Smith: Working-class heroine of Ballymurphy

Patrick Murphy: Teachers should be appointed on merit, not religious belief

Coalisland and Errigal Ciaran set for Tyrone SFC semi-final tussle

Mary Kelly: Unionists shouldn't be in such a hurry to ditch Stormont...

Jake O'Kane: Tilting at windmills can get things done – if done with a bit of wit

Play on life of Guildford Four man Gerry Conlon finally takes to Belfast stage

Latest

Today's TV Saturday 30 October

Jeffrey Anderson found guilty of exposing himself in view of 12-year old girl

Gay McIntyre: Sax legend from the days when jazz was king

Man kicked pregnant partner about the head, court told

Sinn Féin to debate scrapping opposition to Republic's special criminal court

Time for Northern Ireland to move out of its economic comfort zones

Coronavirus

Seven Covid-19 deaths, 1,321 new cases

Seven more people have died after testing positive for Covid-19 and 1,321 people have been diagnosed with the disease.

Topics

Covid deaths rise further in latest weekly update

Another 49 deaths were recorded by Nisra in the week from October 15 to October 22.
Nine Covid-19 deaths, 1,122 new cases

Nine more people have died with Covid-19 while a further 1,122 people have tested positive.
No further lockdown planned this winter, Conor Murphy says

The Finance Minister also said the economic impact of the pandemic has not been as severe as initially feared.
Vaccine passes may be required for hospital visits, Leo Varadkar says

The Tánaiste said the Government is working with the HSE on the introduction of a requirement for Covid certificates.

News

Frances Smith: Working-class heroine of Ballymurphy

FRANCES Smith was a "loving, selfless, powerhouse of a woman" who dedicated herself to making life better for those around her.

Topics

Resident move into homes close to north Belfast Orange hall

RESIDENTS have received the keys to new homes in a nationalist area close to a north Belfast flashpoint.
Gay McIntyre: Sax legend from the days when jazz was king

TRIBUTES to Gay McIntyre record a man with an enormous talent, considered one of the greatest jazz musicians Ireland has ever produced.
Europa Hotel unveils permanent lobby installation to celebrate 50th birthday

THE famous Europa Hotel has unveiled a permanent lobby installation to celebrate its 50th birthday.
Last-minute legal challenge to Casement Park re-development 'could set the project back by months'

A LAST-MINUTE challenge to the re-development of Casement Park is expected to further delay the project.

Business

Time for Northern Ireland to move out of its economic comfort zones

IT'S time for Stormont to stop waiting for Westminster or private investment to provide the answers to Northern Ireland's economic challenges.

Topics

Angel investments exceed pre-pandemic levels says HBAN

ANGEL investment into Irish start-ups is now higher than at pre-pandemic levels and thriving, according to figures from a business angels network.
Lagan Homes group posts pre-tax profits of £6.2m for 2020

LAGAN Homes Group, the house-building business owned by Kevin Lagan, has reported that pre-tax profits have almost doubled to £6.
Profits soar as Danske boss talks of 'improving economic outlook'

DANSKE Bank posted a pre-tax profit of £49.
Electricity bills shocker for 260,000 customers in Northern Ireland

SSE Airtricity is the first major utilities company to move on a price increase since the regulator warned customers earlier this month to prepare for "the worst price shocks since the 1970s".

Sport

Keep on running: How marathon man Tommy Hughes battled back from the brink

WITH one final glance at his watch Tommy Hughes’s familiar hunched gait slows to a stop.

Topics

Toss of a coin between Aghagallon and Portglenone

Northern Switchgear Antrim Senior Football Championship semi-final: Roger Casements, Portglenone v St Mary’s Aghagallon (Tomorrow, Dunsilly, 12.
Creggan will find Cargin juggernaut hard to stop

Northern Switchgear Antrim Senior Football Championship semi-final: Erin’s Own, Cargin v Kickham’s Creggan (tomorrow, St Enda’s, Glengormley, 2.
Coalisland and Errigal Ciaran set for Tyrone SFC semi-final tussle

LCC Tyrone SFC semi-final: Errigal Ciaran v Coalisland (tomorrow, 3.30pm, Pomeroy)
Goals could swing it for young Lavey against the experience of Slaughtneil

O'Neills Derry SFC semi-final: Lavey v Slaughtneil (tonight, 6.45pm, Owenbeg)

Opinion

Patrick Murphy: Teachers should be appointed on merit, not religious belief

Should equal opportunity in employment in this life be discarded because of what you believe is the best way to get to the next life? The question arises because schools are exempt from fair employment legislation, allowing religious discrimination in school appointments.

Topics

Newton Emerson: Government dawdling is the real threat to Stormont stability

This was the week the DUP was meant to collapse Stormont over the protocol and Sinn Féin was meant to collapse it over an Irish language act, yet their deadline arrived to shrugs on both sides.
Editorial: DUP leader should try constructive engagement

In early September, DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson issued an ultimatum, threatening to pull his ministers out of the Stormont Executive before November if his demands on the Northern Ireland Protocol were not met.
Peter Cardwell: Politicians must lead us towards a better health service

There's not much that's good about our health service in Northern Ireland at the minute, except that it can't really get any worse.
Alex Kane: No armed struggle was needed to deliver a peaceful route to Irish unity vote

In an interview with An Phoblacht last weekend Gerry Adams claimed his generation was the first to have the chance to “peaceably bring about Irish unity.

Magazine

Satanist linked to Wembley murders is finally removed from YouTube

Facebook removed EA Koetting's page and Instagram account earlier this month after being contacted by the PA news agency.

Topics

Rose Ayling-Ellis and Giovanni Pernice secure earliest 40 in Strictly history

The couple also received a surprise video message from Ed Sheeran after they performed a tango to his latest hit Shivers.
Celebrities ‘starstruck' by Pride of Britain winners

The awards ceremony, hosted by Carol Vorderman and Ashley Banjo got off to a great start on Saturday.
Memoir about growing up gay in devout Muslim community wins LGBT literary prize

Mohsin Zaidi, a barrister, won the Polari first book prize for his coming-of-age title A Dutiful Boy: A Memoir.
US officials taste haggis and more Scottish cuisine ahead of Cop26 in Glasgow

Irn Bru, cullen skink and a deep-fried Mars bar were also on the menu for the American representatives.

Life

Today's TV Saturday 30 October

Topics

TV Guide

Play on life of Guildford Four man Gerry Conlon finally takes to Belfast stage

WHO will ever forget the television images of a wild-eyed, fist-pumping Gerry Conlon, storming up to a bank of microphones outside The Old Bailey in London and proclaiming to the world, "I am a totally innocent man.
Marie Louise McConville: The soaring cost of Christmas is no joke

Maybe it's just me.
Eating Out: Take it easy at Tank & Skinny's

Tank & Skinny's, 21 Broad Road, Limavady Co Derry BT49 0QH 028 7777 8177 tankandskinnys.
Gardening: Why you shouldn't ‘put your garden to bed' this autumn

SO MANY of us cosy up when autumn hits.

Arts

Play on life of Guildford Four man Gerry Conlon finally takes to Belfast stage

WHO will ever forget the television images of a wild-eyed, fist-pumping Gerry Conlon, storming up to a bank of microphones outside The Old Bailey in London and proclaiming to the world, "I am a totally innocent man.

Topics

Weekend Q & A: A Night In November director Matthew McElhinney on weekends with baby Etta and keeping Sundays sacred, secularly speaking...

:: How do you unwind at weekends? I HAVE a new baby, Etta, who turns one this week, so a lot of my weekends are taken up with her.
Gay McIntyre: Sax legend from the days when jazz was king

TRIBUTES to Gay McIntyre record a man with an enormous talent, considered one of the greatest jazz musicians Ireland has ever produced.
Ian Broudie on celebrating The Lightning Seeds' Jollification LP in Ireland and why they won't be playing with Zig & Zag again...

HI IAN, how does it feel to finally be coming back to Ireland to finish the Jollification 25th anniversary tour? It's just nice to be playing again.
Albums: New music from Billy Bragg, The War on Drugs, Tori Amos and Nightmares on Wax

BILLY BRAGG – THE MILLION THINGS THAT NEVER HAPPENED BILLY Bragg is still looking back in anger on his 10th studio album, which he calls the first pandemic blues album of our times.

Brexit

British minister 'claimed no-deal Brexit would only hit a few Irish farmers with turnips in their trucks'

A FORMER British diplomat said one government minister dismissed the risk of a no-deal Brexit on Irish firms as only affecting "a few farmers with turnips in the back of their trucks".

Topics

DUP again threatens early Stormont election if no progress on protocol

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson was speaking after the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson agreed with him that conditions for invoking Article 16 have been met.
Frost admits relationship with European Union still ‘a little bit bumpy'

Lord Frost said resolving the dispute over the Northern Ireland Protocol was the key to getting the post-Brexit relationship right.
Frontline workers thanked for pandemic efforts

Leaders of Northern Ireland’s five largest political parties addressed the Irish Congress of Trade Unions conference in Belfast.
New survey finds conditions for north-south cooperation have deteriorated due to political instability

THE conditions for north-south cooperation have deteriorated due to political instability, a new survey has found.

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