Garda anti-terrorist officers are continuing to search lands for suspected bomb-making equipment in an isolated area bordering three Leinster counties.

Recorded violent crimes have soared in the last four years, with a surge in murder threats, serious assaults, and rapes.

Recorded violent crime, including sexual offences, as well as drug and fraud crimes saw significant increases in the last year.

A Garda negotiator, backed by an armed intervention unit, secured the peaceful surrender of a man, armed with a knife, who had barricaded himself into his home with three children.

Five candidates are in the running for the Garda commissioner job, the Irish Examiner understands.