Republicans have been locked in negotiations with the DUP and the Irish and British governments in Hillsborough Castle for the past week. These negotiations have now concluded. Sinn Féin went into these negotiations with clear objectives. On one hand an early date for the transfer of powers on policing and justice was a priority. On the other hand was the fundamental issue of ensuring that the DUP operate into the future the all-Ireland political institutions on the basis of partnership and equality. Free article

Writing in his online blog leargas.blogspot.com, Sinn Féin President GERRY ADAMS said: It's 1 o'clock on Wednesday morning. At Hillsborough. Sinn Féin has just concluded our discussions with the DUP. A week is a long time in politics. This week, and a wee bit more, has been a long time coming. Free article

OVER a week of intensive political negotiations involving all the parties in the North, the Irish and British Governments and even the US Secretary of State on the transfer of policing and justice powers from Britain to the North have now come to a conclusion. All eyes are now on the DUP, who have yet to indicate that the party will endorse the agreement involving its negotiating team. Free article

THE Taoiseach has ducked a challenge in the Dáil by Sinn Féin to protect the minimum wage against a background of calls by business chiefs to punish low-paid workers for the sins of criminally reckless bankers and property speculators and an inept Fianna Fáil in government. Sinn Féin Dáil leader Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin TD described as "alarming" the failure by Brian Cowen to rule out a cut in the statutory minimum wage. Replying to Ó Caoláin in the Dáil on Tuesday, the Taoiseach also defended the Government's decision to exempt some of the highest-paid civil servants from the full effects of the public service pay cuts. Free article

Sixteen months after the Dublin government committed the state to underwriting the six main banks' total deposits and loans, and half a year since the introduction of the NAMA initiative - the issue of home repossessions has come to the fore. Billions of euro have been invested in the banks, eleven to be exact. Not a cent has gone into helping people walked by the banks, developers, estate agents and government policy into buying overpriced houses at the peak of the boom. Free article

The comprehensive failures in how FÁS senior executives managed a budget of hundreds of millions of euro was one of the key new media stories last week. The Comptroller and Auditor General found not just "breaches of internal procurement and payment procedures" but perhaps more worryingly, a failure to detect or react appropriately to spending contraventions. Free article

As the political negotiations continue in Belfast, one of those involved in the talks, Foyle Sinn Féin MLA and Policing Board member MARTINA ANDERSON, explains why the transfer of policing and justice is such a major issue. Free article

Sinn Féin chief negotiator Martin McGuinness spoke to those gathered at the Bloody Sunday Commemoration in Derry, addressing the frustration felt by the families over the continuing failure to publish the report of the Saville Inquiry and the progress of the ongoing negotiations to secure the transfer of policing and justice powers. Free article