The Association is intent on having a new boss in place by July

An overview of Northern Ireland including key facts and notes on the media

Hear about travel to Belfast, Northern Ireland as the Amateur Traveler talks to Mary Jo Manzanares about her recent trip there. Mary Jo was really interested in learning more about the history of "the troubles" and her husband about the Titanic.

The UK looks likely to operate under slightly different lockdown rules next week after announcements by the leaders of the Welsh and Scottish Governments suggested deviation between nations.

Commercial Court – a return to action? On 4 May 2020, the Commercial Court Judge in Northern Ireland, the Honourable Mr Justice Horner, circulated an update to legal professionals stating clearly that the Commercial ‘Hub’ is open f...

1.       What is the Enforcement of Judgments Office? The Enforcement of Judgments Office (the “EJO”) is a public body responsible for enforcing judgments in Northern Ireland. This contrasts to the system in...

This week marks another critical juncture in the ongoing fight against the economic challenges presented by the COVID-19 crisis. With the jobs retention scheme portal now open for applications since Monday 20 April 2020, many businesses and employer...

Commercial Court – a return to action? On 4 May 2020, the Commercial Court Judge in Northern Ireland, the Honourable Mr Justice Horner, circulated an update to legal professionals stating clearly that the Commercial ‘Hub’ is open f...

The Larne and Portpatrick basins, located in the North Channel between SW Scotland and Northern Ireland, have been the target of a small programme of petroleum exploration activities since 1971. A total of five hydrocarbon exploration wells have been drilled within the two basins, although as of yet no commercial discoveries have been made. The presence of hydrocarbon shows alongside the discovery of two good-quality reservoir–seal couplets within Triassic and underlying Permian strata has encouraged exploration within the region. The focus of this study is to evaluate the geology and hydrocarbon prospectivity of the Portpatrick Basin and the offshore section of the Larne Basin. This is achieved through the use of seismic reflection data, and gravity and aeromagnetic data, alongside sedimentological, petrophysical and additional available datasets from both onshore and offshore wells, boreholes and previously published studies. The primary reservoir interval, the Lower–Middle Triassic Sherwood Sandstone Group (c. 600–900 m gross thickness), is distributed across both basins and shows good to excellent porosity (10–25%) and permeability (10–1000 mD) within the Larne Basin. The Middle–Late Triassic Mercia Mudstone Group should provide an excellent top seal where present due to the presence of thick regionally extensive halite deposits, although differential erosion has removed this seal from the margins of the Larne and Portpatrick basins. The Carboniferous, which has been postulated to contain organic-rich source-rock horizons, as inferred from their presence in adjacent basins, has not yet been penetrated within the depocentre of either basin. There is, therefore, some degree of uncertainty regarding the quality and distribution of a potential source rock. The interpretation of seismic reflection profiles presented here, alongside the occurrence of hydrocarbon shows, indicates the presence of organic-rich pre-Permian sedimentary rocks within both basins. 1D petroleum system modelling of the Larne-2 borehole shows that the timing of hydrocarbon generation and migration within the basins is a significant risk, with many traps post-dating the primary hydrocarbon charge. Well-failure analysis has revealed that trap breach associated with kilometre-scale uplift events, and the drilling of wells off-structure due to a lack of good-quality subsurface data, have contributed to the lack of discoveries. While the Larne and Portpatrick basins have many elements required for a working petroleum system, along with supporting hydrocarbon shows, the high risks coupled with the small scale of potential discoveries makes the Portpatrick Basin and offshore section of the Larne Basin poorly prospective for oil and gas discovery.

Thematic collection: This article is part of the Under-explored plays and frontier basins of the UK continental shelf collection available at: http://www.lyellcollection.org/cc/under-explored-plays-and-frontier-basins-of-the-uk-continental-shelf

Read our live updates on coronavirus HERE Coronavirus: The symptoms

The National Union of Journalists gathered for a special virtual tribute

It turns out leaving the EU is quite hard. Who knew?

The UK Conservative Party has agreed to consider reducing the rate of Air Passenger Duty for airports in Northern Ireland after agreeing a coalition government with the Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party party.

Despite a ruling by the Belfast High Court that the legislation breaches human rights, the Northern Ireland regional assembly voted against relaxing strict abortion laws.

Mr. Angel Gurría, Secretary-General of the OECD, attended the Working Lunch of the G8 Summit and delivered the OECD report “A Step Change in Tax Transparency - Delivering a standardised, secure and cost effective model of bilateral automatic exchange for the multilateral context” and remarks on Trade, Tax, Transparency which are the key priorities of the UK G8 Presidency for the Summit.

Mistrust is rising over how to implement Brexit

October 13, 1976. Best's career was on the wane. He had turned 30 that summer and come back from his first stint in the US with Los Angeles Aztecs.

Michael O'Neill warned the real tests begin now as his Northern Ireland squad prepare to face Germany in Monday's crunch Euro 2020 qualifier.

The mother rushed the child to A&E at Altnagelvin Hospital in Londonderry on Thursday after informing medics who were awaiting their arrival.

Sportsmail's Martin Keown offers his assessment of Tuesday's two early games at Euro 2016 as Northern Ireland look to secure progress to the last 16 and Poland try to beat Germany to top spot.

SECRET SCOUT: Sportsmail’s football expert has been busy scrutinising the Euros for prospective Premier League bargains this summer. 

The underwhelming group-stages are over and Euro 2016's knockout round is underway. Here, Sportsmail columnist MARTIN KEOWN gives his verdict on Saturday's last-16 games.

Northern Ireland's Euro 2020 qualifying hopes survived a scare as substitutes Conor Washington and Josh Magennis scored twice in four minutes to snatch a 2-1 win in Estonia.

After Saturday's dramatic come-from-behind win over Estonia in Tallinn, victory for the Green and White would put them on 12 points from four games.

There is no place for Lafferty, nor his former Rangers team-mate Gareth McAuley, who is without a club after be released at the end of the season.

Ilkay Gundogan has pulled out of the Germany squad to face Northern Ireland in Belfast on Monday night through illness. The Manchester City midfielder is suffering from a cold.

The partnership will see the BT logo appear on the training kits worn by the men's, women's, youth and disability teams of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland from November.

Paddy McNair is hoping Holland underestimate Northern Ireland in their Euro 2020 qualifier in Rotterdam. Northern Ireland need to win in order to keep their dreams of reaching the finals alive.

With Holland due in Belfast next month, both teams are viewing the double-header as a head-to-head battle for a ticket to Euro 2020, and Koeman is wary of the threat posed by Michael O'Neill's side.

Both teams are talking up this match and the return fixture in Belfast next month as effectively being a play-off for a place in next summer's finals. Holland have missed tournaments in a row.

October 13, 1976. Best's career was on the wane. He had turned 30 that summer and come back from his first stint in the US with Los Angeles Aztecs.

Holland left it late to turn the game around against Northern Ireland and run out winners in Rotterdam. Wales secured a well earned point in Slovakia while Scotland crashed to a heavy defeat in Russia.

CHRIS WHEELER AT DE KUIP STADIUM: Holland and Northern Ireland battled in a close game in their Euro 2020 Group C qualifying match on Thursday night. 

The two teams took part in a minute's applause to honour the memory of the Rangers legend who passed away last month following a six-year battle with motor neurone disease.

Michael O'Neill's men still have a very slim chance of qualifying automatically but must beat Holland on Saturday evening. Join KIERAN JACKSON for full commentary of the Group C clash.

CHRIS WHEELER AT WINDSOR PARK: A goalless draw was enough to send Holland through to Euro 2020 and render Northern Ireland's final Group C game against Germany meaningless.

After a career in top-level football spanning nearly three decades, Ryan Giggs will finally fulfil his dream of competing at a major tournament with Wales.

CHRIS WHEELER IN FRANKFURT: A hat-trick from former Arsenal player Serge Gnabry sank Northern Ireland as their Group C campaign ended with a heavy defeat in Frankfurt.

A mutual decision was made for O'Neill to leave his position due to proposed revised international match scheduling by UEFA in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

Michael O'Neill has turned his back on a £500,000 Euro 2020 bonus after stepping down as Northern Ireland manager on Wednesday.

More than 300 schools were shut for safety reasons today with forecasters warning up to four inches could fall over parts of northern England, Scotland Northern Ireland this week.

Veterans accused of wrongdoing overseas are set to get protection with the introduction of a new bill, but it will not apply to soldiers who served in Northern Ireland, nor Afghan and Iraq veterans.

Ilkay Gundogan has pulled out of the Germany squad to face Northern Ireland in Belfast on Monday night through illness. The Manchester City midfielder is suffering from a cold.

CHRIS WHEELER AT WINDSOR PARK: This is not a vintage Germany, but it doesn't mean they can't score vintage goals. Make no mistake, the former world champions were on the ropes.

CHRIS WHEELER IN FRANKFURT: A hat-trick from former Arsenal player Serge Gnabry sank Northern Ireland as their Group C campaign ended with a heavy defeat in Frankfurt.

After Saturday's dramatic come-from-behind win over Estonia in Tallinn, victory for the Green and White would put them on 12 points from four games.

Paddy McNair is hoping Holland underestimate Northern Ireland in their Euro 2020 qualifier in Rotterdam. Northern Ireland need to win in order to keep their dreams of reaching the finals alive.

With Holland due in Belfast next month, both teams are viewing the double-header as a head-to-head battle for a ticket to Euro 2020, and Koeman is wary of the threat posed by Michael O'Neill's side.