Sex offenders and violent criminals could be caged indefinitely under radical new Government plans. Northern Ireland minister Paul Goggins will publish draft proposals overhauling the law in the province to protect the public from the most dangerous criminals.

The Intensive Care Unit at Belfast City Hospital has been closed to new admissions after two patients were found to have a bacterial infection. They are now being treated in isolation. The hospital said the patients had a multi-resistant acinetobacter infection.

Social welfare officials could face fines of up to €100,000 if found guilty of leaking information to private investigators working for insurance companies.

Police and social workers have visited young people whose names appeared on a list alongside suicide victims. The unusual step was taken in the Armagh area amid concerns for their welfare and following the deaths by suicide of three teenagers from the area.

Police and social workers investigating teenage suicides have visited homes in County Armagh after material was published on the internet.

The parents of a woman who died by suicide have successfully sued a man who sexually abused her as a child.

A charity campaigning to provide Ulster’s first air ambulance is launching a public consultation to highlight its anger over being refused lottery funding.

People in Northern Ireland are the most likely in the UK to give money to charity, a new survey has revealed. Despite relatively low incomes, households which made donations were handing over £42 a month on average, the Government study found

Internet providers have been urged to block sites that support and encourage suicide. Researchers at the University of Ulster made the call as part of a study into suicide trends in Derry over a five-year period.

The charity Women’s Aid has welcomed a new police campaign aimed at encouraging people to report domestic violence. It will run initially in north and east Belfast, Craigavon, Foyle and Lisburn for two weeks.