John O'Dowd

Other serious offences could also qualify in the legislation put forward by Stormont Finance Minister John O’Dowd.

New law proposed to restrict parental access those who murder partner

Stormont Finance Minister John O’Dowd was pressed over the impasse as the Executive continues to insist on further funding from Westminster.

Budget stalemate at Stormont ‘cold comfort’ to workers awaiting pay uplift

Stormont finance minister John O’Dowd

O’Dowd wants £100 support payments to reach householders in NI

Chancellor of the Exchequer John Healey delivering his budget in the House of Commons, Westminster.

Northern Ireland to miss out on further funding if budget not agreed – Bryant

Alliance MP Sorcha Eastwood. Pic: Liam McBurney/PA Wire

Executive's failure to deliver a local budget is a 'damning indictment' - MP

Finance minister John O’Dowd was commenting on the potential implications of chancellor John Healey’s first Budget

Increased defence spend in UK Budget could hit Stormont finances, warns O’Dowd

Sinn Fein finance minister John O'Dowd gives an update on budget negotiations following a meeting of the Stormont Executive with Northern Ireland Secretary Sir Chris Bryant (Picture: Claudia Savage/the Press Association)

Budget ‘can’t be agreed without more funding’

Michelle O’Neill rejects that ‘there’s no more money’ for NI in budget row

Michelle O’Neill rejects that ‘there’s no more money’ for NI in budget row

Jim Allister was criticised by Sinn Féin MLAs (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)

Jim Allister quizzed on call to 'sanitise' Garvaghy Road

Finance Minister John O’Dowd has launched a recruitment competition for the 2027/28 Civil Service Student Placement Scheme, with around 110 placements available across several government departments. Pictured with Finance Minister John O’Dowd are Ulster University students Erin Bradley and Sean McClure, along with Department for Infrastructure Permanent Secretary Emer Morelli

£25,796 salary on offer as Civil Service opens 110 student placements

Police pictured at Drumcree Church.

Bryant accused of ‘disgraceful appeasement’ by stopping Drumcree parade

Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald and First Minister Michelle O’Neill speak to the media alongside Sinn Féin representatives outside Drumcree Community Centre in Portadown on Friday afternoon, amid the continuing dispute over the proposed Orange Order parade along the Garvaghy Road.

Michelle O’Neill says she has not received police letter over Drumcree protest

Breandan Mac Cionnaith (Brendan McKenna) of the Garvaghy Road Residents coalition and Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O'Neill. The three main unionist parties in Northern Ireland have backed a motion of no confidence in First Minister Michelle O’Neill.

Three unionist parties back motion of no confidence in First Minister

First Minister Michelle O’Neill has said she has not thrown in the towel over hopes of further funding from the UK Government.

O’Neill ‘hasn’t thrown in the towel’ in the fight for a ‘fairer funding model’

A Stormont budget being set in London would be a “profound failure” by both the Executive and the UK Government, Opposition leader Matthew O’Toole has said.

Stormont budget being set in London would be ‘profound failure’ – O’Toole

Loyalist supporters and orange men face the police outside Drumcree Church, where they have formed a barricade to prevent them entering the Garvaghy Road. Members of the Orange Order were due to take part in the first return parade on the road for almost 30 years. Picture date: Sunday September 27, 2026. PA Photo. Photo credit should read: Peter Morrison/PA Wire

UUP boss floats 'one and done' scenario for 'permanent end' to Drumcree row
A ‘one and done’ Orange parade along the Garvaghy Road could be an option to resolve the Drumcree dispute, and both the order and local residents need to be open to all options to find a “permanent end” to the row, Jon Burrows has said.
David Thompson

The Government is understood to have upped a financial offer to Stormont ministers to £1.5 billion in a bid to break an impasse over the devolved region’s budget.

Government ups offer to Stormont ministers to £1.5bn

Portadown district master Nigel Dawson pictured at Carleton Street Orange Hall in Portadown.

‘Anger and frustration’ on Garvaghy Road over proposed Orange Order parade

DUP representatives and others worked to maximise the shared character of the Fleadh

Philip Brett: SF should stop blaming others for its own failures

DUP MLA Phillip Brett, left, with party leader Gavin Robinson MP. Photo: Liam McBurney/PA Wire

DUP tell Sinn Fein to 'stop blaming everyone else for its own failures'

Sinn Fein has “no intentions” of collapsing Northern Ireland’s powersharing institutions, Finance Minister John O’Dowd has insisted.

Sinn Fein has no intentions of collapsing Stormont, John O’Dowd says

MLAs from all of Stormont's parties opposed a change to how much funding was divvied out to community groups.

NICVA defend community sector schemes as good value for money

Minister of Finance John O'Dowd has announced how Local Growth Fund cash will be spent. Pic: Liam McBurney/PA Wire

O'Dowd reveals how Executive will spend cash it wanted to give community sector

John O’Dowd insisted a budget can only be agreed when agreement is reached with the UK government for “fair and sustainable funding” for Stormont. (File image)

Stormont Finance Minister seeking ‘urgent meeting’ with Chancellor

Finance Minister John O’Dowd has announced £27.4 million in capital funding from the Local Growth Fund to boost regional growth, support businesses, regenerate communities and improve connectivity

£27.4m Local Growth Fund boost for NI businesses, innovation and connectivity

Conor Murphy said ‘the wheels could come off the wagon’ at Stormont

Owen Polley: SF’s tantrums are sign of weakness in polls

Andy Burnham has expressed a wish for more devolution. Pic: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire

Owen Polley: Burnham should resist calls from Stormont for more cash
Andy Burnham is due to be sworn in as prime minister later today.
Owen Polley

Finance Minister John O’Dowd has announced plans to introduce targeted rate relief to help businesses expand and bring vacant properties back into use, aiming to boost investment and revive local areas

Plans to support NI business expansion and revive vacant properties

John O'Dowd has come under fire over the budget

Finance minister accused of being 'in horizontal mode' in budget crisis

Health minister Mike Nesbitt launched the scheme along with Sinn Fein's John O'Dowd

Some 1,800 applications for baby-loss certificates in first 24 hours

Economy Minister Caoimhe Archibald said she could not support the proposed draft budget due to the allocation for her department

Stormont’s Department for the Economy ‘now at breaking point’ – Archibald

Omniplex Cinema

Omniplex cinemas to challenge business rates revaluation decision

Emma Little-Pengelly said the bill is a serious one, and needs more scrutiny (Arthur Allison/Pacemaker Press)

DUP hits back after SF accuses party of blocking trade union-backed jobs bill

Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Hilary Benn said the £102.6 million funding pot was a 'clear signal of this government’s commitment to supporting the Executive to deliver better public services for the people of Northern Ireland'

‘E-Pharmacy’ initiative among projects to benefit from £100m fund

Communities Minister Gordon Lyons said Sinn Fein ministers leading the departments of economy and finance need to 'allocate the funding towards' building homes in order for him to meet targets

Sinn Fein will not ‘put money where mouth is’ on housing, says Gordon Lyons

DUP minister Paul Givan said education proposals have taken an “exorbitant amount of time” to overcome “minor issues” in coming to the assembly chamber. Picture: Liam McBurney/PA Wire

Sinn Fein ‘not serious’ about Stormont reform, says Paul Givan

SF’s John O’Dowd has said Stormont ‘cannot afford to bail out the British government’

Owen Polley: DUP helps push Sinn Fein’s anti-British budget line

The DUP opposes making divorce easier, but other Executive parties want to bring NI in line with other parts of the UK.

Executive split on proposals to reform 'outdated' divorce laws

Intensive work is continuing to agree a multi-year budget for Northern Ireland, a senior Department of Finance official has told MLAs

‘Intensive work’ continuing to agree multi-year budget for Northern Ireland

Mike Farrer, permanent secretary at the Department of Health in Northern Ireland speaks to media about the budget at the department's headquarters at Castle Buildings in the Stormont estate (Rebecca Black/PA Wire)

Major health service reset 'will be more difficult without a multi-year budget'

A plume of smoke rises after a drone strike on a fuel tank at Dubai International Airport today (AP Photo). The conflict in the Persian Gulf region has caused oil prices to shoot up

'Pitiful': Verdict from NI on government's heating oil subsidy

The UK Government’s heating oil support package is a “slap in the face” and “doesn’t scratch the surface” of what is needed in Northern Ireland, First Minister Michelle O’Neill has said

UK heating oil support ‘slap in the face’ for Northern Ireland: First Minister

Omniplex launches legal action

Omniplex launches legal action over business rates revaluation process

John O’Dowd claimed the £17 million funding would only equate to £35 per household using home heating oil in the region and should be targeted at “those on the lowest incomes.”

NI Finance Minister says £17m UK heating‑oil support ‘extremely disappointing’

Economy minister Caoimhe Archibald.

DUP hit out at officials for confusion on £81m home heating support

Stormont Finance Minister John O’Dowd has said any Government subsidy for those who use heating oil to warm their homes must be “meaningful”.

Government home heating oil subsidy must be meaningful, John O’Dowd says

The consequences for Stormont departments if the Executive cannot agree a budget will be “catastrophic”, Naomi Long has warned.

Failure to agree Stormont budget would be catastrophic, Naomi Long warns

Finance Minister John O’Dowd has announced the extension of the Small Business Rate Relief, Back in Business and rural ATMs exemption schemes for the 2026/27 year

Finance Minister backs local businesses by extending rate support schemes

Finance Minister John O’Dowd has visited a new 24-bed aparthotel in Londonderry which is set to open this spring. Pictured are Gordon Davidson, FJJ Consulting, Larry Duddy, Duddy Group, Patricia Duddy, Duddy Group, John O’Dowd, Finance Minister,Shauna Downey, Duddy Group, Brendan Duddy Jr, Duddy Group, Andrew Coggins, CBRE NI

New 24-bed aparthotel and entertainment hub set to boost NI tourism and jobs

Head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service Jayne Brady, who received a performance related pay rise without the standard appraisal process.

Ulster Unionists slam 'surprising' arrangements around Jayne Brady pay rise

Finance Minister John O’Dowd said the reserve claim from the Treasury would be repaid over three years.

Extra £400m to support health and education in Northern Ireland

The NHS in Blackpool and the Fylde coast is urging people to use services wisely during the latest period of industrial action by resident doctors starting today for six days. Photo : Jeff Moore/PA Wire

Teachers and health staff to share in £25m public sector wage move

The planned route of the long-delayed Enniskillen Bypass.

Enniskillen Bypass £6.6m blow: One-sixth of budget now to be spent elsewhere

Small schools and places with too many empty desks will be in the firing line for closures and mergers in a five-year plan meant to cope with an education cash crisis. Photo: Ben Birchall/PA Wire

Scrap school closures and classroom assistant axe, calls teachers' union

Cutbacks to special needs classroom assistants are on the cards in the proposed overhaul.

School closures and classroom assistant cuts mooted in education crisis plan

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