Northern Ireland

The International Monitoring Commission's report that the IRA (Provisional) continues to recruit members and train them in the use of firearms and explosives is disconcerting, even when allowance is made for the reliance that body has on intelligence from the PSNI, An Garda Síochána and British intelligence sources. Members of the Commission are capable of sifting information from those sources, weighing and assessing it. While Sinn Féin will remain scornful (they would, wouldn't they?), the rest of us must take note.

Republicans on the ground in Northern Ireland have accepted that the decision has been taken to disband the IRA, with no great resistance from the ranks of either Sinn Féin or the IRA. By Anton McCabe

In July of last year a report by High Court Inspectors into the affairs of National Irish Bank (NIB) was published. The Inspectors were former Supreme Court judge, John Blaney, and former Irish rugby international and accountant, Tom Grace.

Whether it is an election ploy or not, Gerry Adams's call to the IRA unconditionally to disband changes the North's political equation irrevocably. By Vincent Browne

Despite the attention the Northern Bank robbery attracted, it was not an isolated incident. Suzanne Breen reports

A Co Tyrone doctor is trying to ditch partisan politics by running for election on the issue of health care. But how well can a single-issue candidate fare in the North? Suzanne Breen reports

Suzanne Breen reports on the implications of the The Prevention of Terrorism Act for human rights in Northern Ireland, amid fears of a return to the days of interment in the 1970s

From midday, chants of "I, I, IRA!" could be heard all over the university area of Belfast where thousands of Catholic students live. Hundreds of houses were bedecked with Tricolours and other bunting. Many occupants were already drunk and the queues in local off-licenses were breathtaking.

Seven women dominated the week. Catherine, Claire, Donna, Paula and Gemma McCartney, Bridgeen Hagans and Anne McCabe. All were at the White House for a St Patrick's Day reception. All represented a determination to rid Ireland of paramilitary murder, violence and criminality.

Richard O'Rawe saw ten of his fellow hunger strikers die in the H-Blocks in 1981. In a new book, he claims that the IRA leadership rejected a British offer that could have ended the hunger strikes. Suzanne Breen reports