Niall Ó Donnghaile has confirmed that he sent inappropriate texts to a teenager in September 2023, he was suspended from Sinn Fein, before he resigned from from the Seanad in December 2023 on health grounds.
Alliance Party councillor Gillian McCollum has been moved to the Holywood and Clandeboye District Electoral Area (DEA) on Ards and North Down Borough Council, to replace David Rossiter, who stepped down from the council last month and has since left Alliance.
First Minister Michelle O’Neill and Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly attended the first meeting of the newly established Council of the Nations and Regions on Friday. Held in Edinburgh, it brings the Prime Minister together with leaders from across the UK.
The Department for Communities (DfC) has announced that they are to create over 1,000 new jobs across Northern Ireland, as they expand their service in delivering child maintenance and benefit services for the Department for Work and Pensions.
The Alliance Party has announced that Eóin Tennyson MLA has been elected as their new deputy leader, following a vote of 190 party members on Tuesday evening. He said that it’s a ‘hugely exciting time for our party’ and he is ‘incredibly thankful to party members’.
Former Sinn Féin press officer Michael McMonagle has admitted to several child sex offences and is awaiting sentencing, but it’s been revealed that two of his former colleagues provided references for him to gain employment at the British Heart Foundation, after his contract was terminated by the party.
The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden MP has made his first visit to Northern Ireland after being appointed as Minister for Intergovernmental Relations. He met with Michelle O’Neill and Emma Little-Pengelly alongside NI Secretary Hilary Benn.
Following his exit from party politics, Stephen Farry is taking on a new role at Ulster University, leading their new Strategic Policy Unit with Jodie Carson. The former minister announced in September that he would step down as Alliance Party deputy leader.
Diana Armstrong has been co-opted to the Northern Ireland Assembly by the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) to replace Tom Elliot, who was elevated to the House of Lords in July. She will serve the Fermanagh and South Tyrone constituency.
