News

• ‘You’re in our country’ DUP’s Gregory Campbell tells Irish president during Derry visit

DUP MP Gregory Campbell has told Irish president Catherine Connolly “you’re in our country” and warned her against “rewriting the past” on her visit to County Derry. In a short interaction between the pair after Ms Connolly addressed the Guildhall, she said she is “here to listen” – adding “at the end of the day we’re human beings and we have to have respect”.

• Department of Education racks up £270k legal bill amid school funding crisis

The Department of Education has spent more than £270,000 on legal counsel representation in just nine months, almost quadruple the annual spend in previous years. It comes amid complaints that many of Northern Ireland’s schools have been left to “crumble” and that children with Special Educational Needs (SEN) are unable to access adequate services due to budgeting issues.

• Footage of Noah Donohoe ‘missed’ in initial search of CCTV, inquest told

On the 12th day of proceedings, Noah Donohoe’s appearance on a leisure centre’s CCTV footage seems to have been “missed” by police in the “critical” 24 hours after he went missing, an inquest heard.

• Insolvency-related activity surged 20% in Northern Ireland last year

Northern Ireland recorded one of the highest increases in business failures across the UK last year, new figures suggest. Insolvency-related activity jumped 20.2% in 2025, rising to 297 cases from 247 the previous year.

Politics and analysis

• Precedent created by John O’Dowd’s rates u-turn ‘not in NI’s long-term interest’

The Stormont finance minister’s suspension of the non-domestic rates revaluation is “not in the interests of Northern Ireland”, the head of the surveyors’ representative body has said.

• Concern development of student accommodation in Derry is failing to keep pace with Ulster University expansion

Councillors in Derry have voiced concern that purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) provision in the city is failing to meet the needs of quicker-than-expected student expansion at Ulster University’s (UU) Magee campus.

Sport

• Kenny Archer: Pep Guardiola on the money by speaking out on wars and refugees

Irish News deputy sports editor Kenny Archer’s latest column on how Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola’s recent remarks about issues in the wider world should resonate with all decent human beings.

• ‘If they got lost, we might never have found them’: Shanghai surprise, New York summers and the enduring Down-Clare connection

It’s a long way from Cusack Park to China’s largest city – but it was in Shanghai that an unlikely Down-Clare alliance was once forged. Neil Loughran looks into what has become an enduring connection.