Dawn raids and doggedness lifted Listowel to the top of this year’s Tidy Towns competition after 25 years of trying.

Italian Premier Mario Monti has suggested that football in the country should be suspended for two to three years after another match-fixing scandal.

GARDAÍ seized 320 rounds of 9mm ammunition — suitable for Uzi submachine guns — during an operation against dissident republicans yesterday, which also focused on the murder of a convicted drug dealer.

Eleven people have been arrested by UK police investigating a criminal gang suspected of running “a modern-day slavery operation” involving migrant workers.

Gardaí and Customs officials acting on tip-offs from corner shops swooped on homes across Dublin today in a major offensive against rogue cigarette traders.