'Best wishes' to sextuplet family

Austin and Nuala Conway are now the parents of sextuplets

The first and deputy first ministers have sent their congratulations to the parents of Ireland's first ever set of sextuplets.

Nuala Conway gave birth to four girls and two boys at the Royal Jubilee Maternity Hospital in Belfast.

Mrs Conway and her husband, Austin, live at Dunamore near Cookstown in County Tyrone.

Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness also paid tribute to the medical team who helped deliver the babies safely.

Thirty people were involved in the deliveries which took place between 1119 and 1124 BST on Friday.

The babies were delivered by Caesarean section and were 14 weeks premature. They weighed between 1lb 7oz and 2lb 2oz and are now in intensive care.

The children were born in the Jubilee Maternity Hospital in Belfast

The babies were conceived naturally, without the aid of IVF.

Mr Robinson said: "Our thoughts and prayers are with the family at this time and we would offer them our sincerest congratulations."

Mr McGuinness said: "We would also like to pay tribute to the expertise and dedication of the medical staff involved in the birth and the ongoing care of the babies and their mother."

It is the first recorded birth of sextuplets on the island of Ireland, and the first in the UK since 1993.