Former Garda commissioners including Martin Callinan, Fachtna Murphy and Noel Conroy could be hauled before the cross-party Public Accounts Committee (PAC) over the deepening garda college financial scandal.

Here's your morning news bulletin.

State financial watchdog the C&AG should open an immediate investigation into the Garda college scandal as its findings could be used to begin a criminal investigation into gardaí responsible for what happened.

FROM early in the morning, rivers of blue flowed into Louth. From every corner of the country, gardaí took to the roads in the dark and cold.

Caroline O’Doherty looks at Martin Callinan’s record prior to this very damaging, badly handled scandal

The long-awaited report into allegations of Garda collusion in the IRA murder of two senior RUC men has been handed over to the Dáil.

A long-awaited report into allegations of Garda collusion in the IRA murder of two senior RUC men will be handed over to the Government today.

Eight years ago this month, the then Garda commissioner Noel Conroy announced details of the new system to handle informants in the wake of the scathing criticism of the Morris Tribunal reports into abuses among the force in Donegal.

TRIBUTE upon tribute have been heaped on the man who trained nearly one-third of the current serving gardaí, as he retired from the force after 40 years of service.

SPECULATION is mounting as to who will replace Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy after the Cork man announced he was stepping down as Garda boss.

A HIGH Court application by journalist Ian Bailey to get detailed Garda files for his action for alleged wrongful arrest in connection with the murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier will be heard next February.

IAN BAILEY, twice arrested and released without charge in connection with the investigation into the killing of Sophie Toscan du Plantier, is to seek damages for wrongful arrest.

BOG owners have been granted a year-long reprieve from a ban on turf-cutting that is expected to come into force at the start of 2010.

An internal review into the garda handling of the murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier in west Cork 12 years ago has been made available to a French magistrate investigating the case.

A CHICKEN factory worker from Co Mayo has been awarded more than €50,000 after being wrongfully dismissed from his job amid claims that he had improperly given out painkillers to other workers.

THE number of garda reservists will reach 270 today with the graduation of the latest batch of recruits.

The new Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy today vowed to use his time as the Republic’s most senior police officer to clearing the streets of gangland crime.

The new Garda Commissioner, Fachtna Murphy, is beginning his first day in the job today.

GARDA Commissioner Noel Conroy yesterday warned gardaí they face disciplinary action if they access information about people without good reason.

RANDOM checks on how gardaí access private data on the public will be revealed today in a move to prevent Garda abuse of personal information.

ANGRY businesspeople in the mid-Cork region are to write to Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy demanding more Garda manpower following a spate of robberies perpetrated by a violent gang.

YOU KNOW you are approaching the nadir in any cycle of crime or violence when someone demands the Army be called in “to tackle the problem head on”.

DEFENCE Minister Willie O’Dea and Army Chief of Staff Dermot Earley yesterday effectively ruled out using the Army in the fight against gangland crime.

TWO PENSIONERS have been arrested in connection with Monday’s fatal gun attack in Limerick city, as it emerged that a second man died earlier on the same day following a violent assault in the city centre two weeks ago.

GARDA interviews with suspects will soon be regularly shown on video screens in courtrooms under plans being progressed by the Department of Justice and a high-level internal committee of the Garda Síochána.

The family of a 24-year-old man gunned down in a double gangland murder in Dublin have offered a reward to catch his killer.

Minister for Justice Brian Lenihan is to meet the Garda Commissioner this morning to discuss their response to the latest gangland murders in Dublin.

THE Justice Minister last night announced the targeting of assets belonging to lower level drug dealers ahead of a priority meeting with senior gardaí.

THE Rape Crisis Network Ireland has criticised the Garda authorities for not including sexual violence as a policing priority for next year.

UNSOLVED murders stretching back to 1980 will be the focus of a cold case unit established by Garda bosses as part of a major shake-up in the way gardaí tackle crime.

GARDA COMMISSIONER Noel Conroy yesterday announced a range of reforms designed to strengthen the force’s hand in its fight against crime.

More than 200 unsolved murders are to be re-investigated by a team of detectives in An Garda Siochana’s new cold-case squad, it was revealed today.

A new cold case unit within the Garda which will revisit unsolved crimes will form part of a raft of reforms being unveiled tomorrow.

A former senior garda officer sacked after being branded corrupt today compared the force to the military junta rulers brutally opposing democracy in Burma.

Mourners lined Bray's streets of today in an emotional tribute after the funeral of the second of two firefighters killed battling a factory blaze.

The family of the only prison officer ever assassinated in the Republic are in talks with gardaí about reopening the murder files, it emerged today.

AN inquest into the death of two raiders shot dead by elite gardaí was dramatically halted yesterday after the Garda Ombudsman revealed it was investigating one of the killings.

The Government today vowed a relentless war against gangland violence after an unarmed police officer was gunned down in Dublin.

President of Ireland Mary McAleese today led condemnation of the shooting of an unarmed Garda officer in the centre of Dublin.

THE expert group on Garda reform has criticised the manner in which the Department of Justice appointed the new commissioner Fachtna Murphy.

THE Cabinet yesterday appointed Fachtna Murphy as the next Garda commissioner.

The Justice Minister has appointed Deputy Commissioner Fachtna Murphy to succeed Noel Conroy as Garda Commissioner, when he retires in November.

A MODERN, European society is no more than an attempt at the organisation of all its members, no matter what their religion, no matter what their origin, no matter which cultural background informs their ambitions, for the mutual security and benefit of every member of that society.

Sikh leaders in Ireland are considering mounting a legal challenge to the banning of turban's in the Gardai.

Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy is to be honoured at the Humbert Summer School for his work on piloting garda reforms, it emerged today.

Ciaran Cuffe of the Green Party has demanded An Garda Siochana scrap an allegedly racist rule which bans Sikh officers from wearing a turban on duty.

Rank-and-file Garda are stepping up calls for the introduction of pepper spray as an alternative to the traditional baton.

GARDA Commissioner Noel Conroy yesterday hit back at criticisms of him and the force by the head of the Garda watchdog.

The Garda today flatly dismissed scathing criticism over its alleged inability to apologise for wrongdoing.

GARDAÍ have a “total inability” to apologise to people when they make genuine mistakes, the head of a Garda watchdog said yesterday.