What the papers say

Journalist Mike Philpott takes a look at what is making the headlines in Wednesday's morning newspapers.

Ian Paisley Junior finds himself on the front pages once again.

"The pressure is back on," according to the News Letter, after he denied that he had used the St Andrew's talks on the future of Northern Ireland to win concessions for his own constituency.

The paper carries an extract from a letter written by the minister of state David Hanson, responding to questions that Mr Paisley had raised, including a request for money to support the North West 200 motorcycle event.

The Belfast Telegraph says Mr Paisley is "back on the ropes again, and some of the items raised will add fuel to the continuing row about the junior minister's links to the property developer Seymour Sweeney".

Again, Mr Paisley asserts in the story that the latest revelations cause him no embarrassment.

The Irish News chooses a very different lead story.

It claims that loyalist drug dealers with links to a faction of the UDA supplied the weapons used by the Real IRA to shoot two police officers last year.

'Massive haul'

The paper says the unlikely partnership goes back to 2003, when loyalists brought in a massive haul of weapons for the Real IRA along a route normally used for drug running.

The front page also features a picture of Taoiseach Bertie Ahern visiting a hospice in South Africa run by the Belfast priest Father Kieran Creagh, who was shot by a gang of burglars last year.

It's a picture that also turns up in the Irish Independent.

It says Mr Ahern broke away from his trade mission to South Africa to make a special visit to the hospice, which treats Aids sufferers.

In an illustration of the scale of the problem, it points out that five patients died on Tuesday alone.

Mr Ahern features on the front of the Irish Times, too, this time in more familiar surroundings, as he met South African President Thabo Mbeki.

Donations

The English papers have several different interpretations of Gordon Brown's use of the word "incompetent".

He used it when being interviewed about donations to Peter Hain's deputy leadership campaign. But was he talking about Mr Hain himself?

"Yes", says the Daily Mail, which calls it "an astonishing admission by the prime minister".

It translates it, with some glee, into the headline: "Minister For Incompetence."

The Independent, on the other hand, reckons the word was used in reference to Mr Hain's campaign team - but it goes on to report that he faces a difficult Question Time in the Commons.

The Times thinks it was an attempt by the prime minister to shore up the position of his beleaguered work and pensions secretary.

It claims that he expects Mr Hain to remain as a member of his team.

There are several reports on the continued fall in house prices in England. But one man is certainly not affected.

Jack Holsgrove lives in Sandbanks in Dorset. The Daily Mail reports that he bought his house there for £60,000 in the early 1970s.

Since then, Sandbanks has become the fourth most expensive place in the world for property.

But Mr Holsgrove is refusing to sell, despite having had several offers of £10m.

He tells the paper that his grand-daughters love spending their holidays there, and they'd never forgive him if he sold up.