At this time of year we traditionally count down the shopping days left until Christmas. But the nationalist residents of Garvaghy Road are counting the marching days left until Christmas as the Orange Order persists in its attempt to march from Drumcree and through the besieged nationalist enclave. Free article

The Tories are right. Why indeed should convicted killers be released early - very early? Not only have they not repented but they are rewarded by promotion in their killer gang. Not only have the killers of hundreds of unarmed people not decommissioned their weapons but they have taken up the gun again and are openly deploying them on the very streets where the families of their victims live. Free article

Since last week the Patten Commission roadshow has visited various locations throughout the North and as I watched Mr Patten in the Ashgrove Community centre in Portadown last Friday I thought to myself, ``here's a man with the look of someone who has bitten off more than he can chew''. Free article

In a statement released on Monday through the Irish Republican Publicity Bureau in Dublin, and signed by P O'Neill, the IRA has declared that its efforts to find the bodies of people killed and buried by the IRA are continuing. Free article

The Waterfront Hall is the venue today (Thursday) for the launch of Pobal, the new umbrella organisation for the Irish language community in Belfast. Free article

Traveller support groups are cautiously hopeful of a breakthrough in the provision of accommodation for Travelling people in the Six Counties. They expect that responsibility for Travellers accommodation will be taken away from local councils and given to the Housing Executive. Free article

John McGivern of the Springfield Residents Action Group in West Belfast has welcomed reports that the Apprentice Boys have voluntarily rerouted a planned parade in the area on 12 December. Free article

If you were expecting the budget to deal with the housing crisis - perhaps the worst ever in the history of the state - you would have been seriously mistaken. Free article

Joe Carty, Kathleen Neeson, Jerry Johnston and Mick Bannon Free article