STORMONT Justice Minister Naomi Long expressed concern on Monday over allegations of police surveillance of journalists in Northern Ireland.

A hearing of the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) in London earlier this month heard claims that police in Northern Ireland undertook six-monthly trawls of the phone data of “troublemaker” journalists to see if they were in contact with officer sources.

It came during a hearing of a case examining allegations that investigative reporters Barry McCaffrey and Trevor Birney were subject to unlawful covert intelligence by the police.