News
• House prices in Newry surged by 12% last year but still half the price of buying in Dublin
House prices in the border district surged 12.4% to £218,595 at the end of 2025, well above the 7.5% average recorded across the north.
• Stormont backs down on ‘excessive and inappropriate’ BBC political reporter ban
A Stormont Assembly ban imposed on a BBC journalist was removed just hours after The Irish News asked questions about the “excessive and inappropriate” sanction.
Brendan Hughes, a former Irish News reporter, was banned from the Assembly for four weeks for breaking an embargo on a report which led to an MLA being banned for two days.
• Sentencing of former Belfast school teacher for sex abuse delayed because of stroke risk
William-Lloyd Lavery (77) was due to be sentenced on March 3, 2026, after he was found guilty of indecently assaulting six pupils at a south Belfast all-girls grammar school in the 1970s.
• Man sentenced over Pitt Park ‘show of strength’ to be freed from prison after conviction for intimidation quashed
A man jailed for taking part in a so-called loyalist show of strength in east Belfast is to have his conviction quashed, the Court of Appeal has ruled
Senior judges held Derek Lammey was wrongly found guilty of intimidation on the basis of voice recognition evidence from police officers.
• Stormont committee chair slams ‘painful’ lack of answers from senior civil servants
The performance of senior civil servants at a Stormont committee has been described as “painful” by a DUP chair, who hit out at an “inability to provide meaningful detailed answers”.
North Belfast MLA Phillip Brett spoke after what he described as a “deeply unsatisfactory” evidence session with Department for the Economy leads on Wednesday in areas including advanced manufacturing, life and health sciences and agri-tech.
Business and Politics
• Duality Healthcare to open new Belfast city centre clinic and add 10 more jobs
The value of cross border trade continued to reach new record levels last year, preliminary figures from the Republic’s Central Statistics Office (CSO) suggest.
• Co Tyrone agri-group Capper Trading to develop £6m renewable energy hub backed by all-island grant scheme
Co Tyrone animal feed and bedding manufacturer Capper Trading has announced plans to invest £6 million in a new renewable energy hub, backed by £1.39m from the Irish government.
The multi-million-pound investment will see the company install solar panels and batteries across two sites along the M1 motorway, while it also plans to electrify its transport fleet.
Sport
• The Monday Club podcast: Why moving the All-Ireland finals to August makes no sense
We are back with another episode of The Monday Club, a new GAA podcast from The Irish News. On this week’s show Neil Loughran is joined by The Irish News sports editor Paul McConville and sports reporter Cahair O’Kane.
They chat about moving the All-Ireland finals - and why changing them to August makes little sense.
• Kilcoo add new face to management team following Joe McMahon exit
Former Cavan forward Seanie Johnston has joined Kilcoo’s coaching team.
Magpies boss Martin Corey knows Johnston from their time together in the Breffni county, and he joins the reigning Down kingpins after Tyrone All-Ireland winner Joe McMahon returned to home club, Omagh.