Margaret Hale was beaten so viciously on Sunday that she was barely recognisable to her family and friends. She suffered severe bruising to her head and face, received stitches to a wound on her forehead, had staples inserted in a wound on the top of her head and was treated for a number of broken ribs. Free article

A special debate was held in the Dáil last week in the wake of the IRA initiative and the confirmation from the International Decommissioning body that a quantity of IRA arms had been put beyond use. Speaking in that debate, Cavan/Monaghan Sinn Féin TD Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin called for a swift and positive response from the British and Irish governments and the unionists. Free article

The killing of 27-year-old Colin Foy by a member of the British Army's notoriously sectarian RIR, formerly the UDR, has renewed calls for the RIR to be disbanded. Free article

As last week drew to a close, the parents and children of the Holy Cross school in North Belfast were looking forward to the weekend. Free article

Sinn Féin representative for South Belfast, Stiofáin Long, is challenging loyalist leader Jackie McDonald to call on the UDA to end its campaign of sectarian violence against Catholics living near Finaghy Crossroads. Free article

The North's Director of Public Prosecutions has told republican Martin Meehan that a number of prison officers involved in an assault on him in 1988 will not face prosecution. Free article