NIO

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer's chief of staff, Sue Gray. Photo: Liam McBurney/PA Wire

Dorries claims Sue Gray asked Boris for top NIO job

Lord Caine was the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Northern Ireland Office under the previous Tory government.

Labour government should not be neutral on the Union - Peer

Morning View

Editorial: PM wobbles on whether to back NI in UK, yet we couldn't grill him

Other infrastructure projects - such as the Westlink–M2 motorway intersection, a rail link to the international airport, and improved road infrastructure - should be prioritised in Northern Ireland, not Casement Park, where all future profits go to a private sports organisation

Letter: A plan for how Casement could be made to work for all the people of NI

Minister of State for the Northern Ireland Office Steve Baker says the deal further cements Northern Ireland’s place in the UK.

Government hails NI meat deal with EU

DAERA Minister Andrew Muir MLA says he will continue to engage with the government on the new arrangements. (Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye)

Powers stripped from Stormont ministers

Former DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson and NI Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris with copies of the ‘Safeguarding the Union’ document struck earlier this year. Writing in the News Letter, DUP leader Gavin Robinson has previously said his party's agreement with the government 'goes further than ever before to undo the damage of the NI Protocol'.

MLAs and ministers' access to information curtailed

Morning View

Editorial: UK needs to set out plan for retaliation against Irish legacy case

Stopping checks on the Irish Sea border was central to the DUP's deal with the government.

Allister: Deal regulations leave checks 'untouched'

Shadow NI secretary Hilary Benn was in Northern Ireland this week, picture here with interim DUP leader Gavin Robinson.

Shadow secretary of state Hilary Benn rules out new border poll criteria

David Graham is a former special adviser to the DUP. He also worked for Linfield and Rangers football clubs.

Former DUP adviser: Robinson ‘needs EU law concessions’

Letters to editor

Letter: Praise for remaining true to the most fundamental journalistic values

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson and NI Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris with copies of the ‘Safeguarding the Union’ document. The deal promises legislation to repeal a duty to have 'regard' for an all-Ireland economy, but the government won't say when that will happen.

‘No comment’ from NIO on all-Ireland economy pledge

Northern Ireland has seen a wave of strike action in the past few months. Head of the civil service Jayne Brady was seen at the picket lines in January

Letter: When will Jayne Brady be held accountable?

Public sector workers walk from the picket line at the Royal Victoria Hospital to a rally at Belfast City Hall, as an estimated 150,000 workers take part in walkouts over pay across Northern Ireland.

Unions warn of escalating action as thousands strike across Northern Ireland

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen announced the Windsor Framework earlier this year. The Stormont Brake was a key selling point - as it give a limited say to Stormont politicians over EU laws applicable to NI. Photo: PA.

Elliott: Stormont Brake ‘unworkable and mis-sold’
Northern Ireland could be left with “unmanageable consequences” if politicians apply the so-called Stormont Brake, according to a UUP MLA. The mechanism is a key feature of the Windsor Framework and was sold as a way NI parties could halt unwanted EU laws.
David Thompson

Lord Caine said he deeply regretted the decision by the Irish government to launch an interstate case over the UK’s legacy Act to deal

Minister ‘cannot rule out consequences’ over Irish Legacy Act challenge

There has been a political dispute over what impact the Windsor Framework will have on UK plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda to be processed. Photo: Steve Parsons/PA Wire

NIO Rwanda law claim "deceptive" - Allister

A Westminster report proposing a consultative role for the Irish government in changes to how Stormont operates has sparked a political row - with unionists saying it breaches Strand One of the Belfast Agreement - and Alliance saying Dublin involvement is legitimate.

Alliance back "legitimate" Dublin role - as NIO says no

DUP MP Carla Lockhart has warned about any Dublin role in NI's internal affairs - and said that the NI Protocol is the "most significant governance defect within the institutions at present".

No Dublin role in NI's internal affairs – DUP MP

Peter Robinson said Northern Ireland could have the best of both worlds with seamless access to both the UK and EU market. But if our rules for trading goods are set in Brussels, it will always be costlier and more expensive for mainland companies to send products to this province

Owen Polley: No unionist worth the name would accept being semi detached from GB

Baroness Kate Hoey at an anti-NI Protocol rally in Ballymoney in March 2022. Photo: Liam McBurney/PA

NIO pledge to spend wisely when it comes to cash for Casement Park rebuild

Letters to editor

Letter: London's skilled wordsmiths get ready to say the Union is safe

Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris survives the cabinet reshuffle.

No change at NIO despite Stormont hiatus

If the simple majority clause of the Belfast Agreement has to be respected, as we are so often told, then so too should the secretary of state’s right to make a decision on any border poll without setting out prior conditions

Owen Polley: UK would be stupid to set out the criteria for a border poll

The flag of Israel, the Union flag and the Saltire fly above the UK Government Queen Elizabeth House building in Edinburgh. Picture date: Friday October 13, 2023. PA Photo. Photo credit should read: Jane Barlow/PA Wire

Government buildings in GB display the Israeli flag but none on main NIO office

Morning View

Editorial: Northern Ireland has failed to show solidarity with Israel
It is a disgrace that neither Stormont nor Belfast City Hall, the headquarters of Northern Ireland’s capital city, have shown Israeli symbols.
Editorial

Jamie Bryson says: 'No self respecting unionist or loyalist will ever compromise, weaken or give in on the Union'

Jamie Bryson: My message to Steve Baker- I wear the badge 'hardliner' with pride

The House of Lords was eventually going to give way to the House of Commons on the legacy bill. All that is left is for the king to give Royal Assent, assuming he does not take Bertie Ahern’s advice and refuse – thereby creating a constitutional crisis

Jeff Dudgeon: After years of imbalance in legacy probes, new law passes

Lord Caine said if Stormont was still not up and running when a new chief constable was appointed, then it would fall to the UK government to ratify the chosen candidate

Lord Caine: Stormont vacuum means London would have to approve new PSNI chief

Fly Atlantic plans to launch in Spring 2025

Airline has ambitious plans to revolutionise NI as a hub for US travel

The self-proclaimed 'hardmen' of Brexit are as wet as the Irish Sea. Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris (left) and Northern Ireland Minister Steve Baker will not like the reality of the DUP commitments

Jamie Bryson: DUP can't backslide and Heaton-Harris and Baker must learn that

There are questions for Downing Street to answer, writes David McNarry

Letter: Unionists hold strong negotiating cards - but there are wild cards

Teachers' pay claim

NI teaching unions call for 6.5% pay award made in England to be matched

The Casement Park site has not been in use since 2013. Pic: Pacemaker

SOS asked: Is Casement higher priority than schools and hospitals?

The Stormont Executive and Assembly have been in cold storage for the past 16 months

NI budget crisis: NIO says return of Stormont crucial

DUP MP Gavin Robinson told the House of Commons that the government was 'gaslighting' Northern Ireland over the budget issue

DUP MP Gavin Robinson: Northern Ireland being gaslighted by government

The loyalist Jamie Bryson and Simon Hoare MP at Queen's University during the 25th anniversary celebrations of the Belfast Agreement on Wednesday April 19 2023. Like Bertie Ahern, Mr Hoare listened intently and engaged with the viewpoints set out

Jamie Bryson: NIO should adopt listening approach of Ahern and Hoare

Steve Baker, UK Minister of State at the Northern Ireland Office, at a service at Clonard Monastery to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. Jamie Bryson says he challenged him at a later date. "Unlike the self-styled ‘hardmen’ of Brexit, unionism is made of sterner stuff," writes Mr Bryson

Jamie Bryson: I challenged NIO minister but he called for unionist compromise

Rev Robert Coulter was well connected within unionism. He is seen here with Dr Ian Paisley and the ex prime minister John Major. Earlier, he held talks at his home with the NIO minister Brian Mawhinney, who had ostensibly come to the house to discuss education with John Coulter who was News Letter Education Correspondent

Belfast Agreement at 25: I was dad's notetaker during early talks with unionists

St Aidan's parish church, Glenavy, Co Antrim Picture: Billy Maxwell

Free Presbyterians charge NIO over "heinous" abortion laws

Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris at Hillsborough Castle after meeting Stormont leaders over the Windsor Framework on Thursday. Lord Dodds says of him: "Overblown and windy statements are quickly followed by the sound of hot air disappearing from the punctured balloon". Photo: Brian Lawless/PA Wire

Nigel Dodds: It turns out the Stormont brake mechanism is unworkable

Sinn Fein vice president Michelle O’Neill said a UK/Irish arrangement could be the only alternative if the devolution impasse continued

Windsor Framework: We will not consider joint authority, says NIO

Sinn Fein vice president Michelle O'Neill has said governance in Northern Ireland would probably involve a joint arrangement between the UK and Irish governments if powersharing is not restored at Stormont

Alternative to powersharing in NI is joint UK/Irish arrangement, says Sinn Fein

Morning View

Editorial: Heaton-Harris and Baker talking up protocol deal in an unhelpful way

There’s an effort to end the stalemate at Stormont by passing an organ donor opt-out law. But international evidence suggests that the change by itself will not improve the organ situation by much

Esmond Birnie: It is far from clear whether an opt-out law in NI would work

Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris (left) and his garrulous minister of state, Steve Baker, have spent months reprimanding the DUP for its decision to collapse the executive. They seem convinced that the people of Northern Ireland are desperate for power-sharing to return

Owen Polley: NIO pair not the first to talk up their unionism, then not deliver

David McNarry left with David Trimble and other Ulster Unionists at the signing of the Belfast Agreement in 1998. Mr McNarry does not want the 25th anniversary to be used to place the Northern Ireland Protocol alongside the deal. "Showboating the protocol isn’t on, given the damage it’s done to a deal the I was proud to back," he writes

Beware NIO plans to use Belfast Agreement anniversary to project protocol

Upper Bann MP Carla Lockhart.

Clarity provided on when to expect £600 energy payment in Northern Ireland

Chris Heaton-Harris did not need to ring fence the funding of abortion services. But terminations are now to be prioritised over everything else

The only government funding that is to be protected is for the taking of life

The purpose of the NIO is to ensure the smooth working of the devolution settlement in the province

Samuel Morrison: Better things were expected of Steve Baker and Chris Heaton-Har...

Unboxing of NIO Cocktails with eco-friendly packaging

Sustainability key for eco-friendly Christmas gifts from NIO Cocktails

Secretary of State for Northern Ireland the Rt Hon Chris Heaton-Harris MP

Chris Heaton-Harris 'resignation' email sent to newsrooms

Punishing Britain at Strasbourg – but not the terrorists – has to stop, writes Jeffrey Dudgeon

Jeffrey Dudgeon: Strasbourg legacy inquiries must be brought to an end

Steve Baker told a Westminster debate today that an date would be confirmed soon

Assembly election date will be confirmed ‘soon’, says NIO minister