Two men have been arrested in west Dublin following a dramatic cross-country car chase.

There are 25 organised crime gangs operating around the country, but the garda commissioner said he believes gardaí are winning the war against crime.

Ireland's most senior gardaí are meeting in Templemore today to discuss nationwide operations against crime gangs.

Overall crime levels have fallen 8% in the 12 months to June, with the number of reported crimes down in 12 of 14 main categories, including burglaries, drugs, and public order offences.

Almost 6,000 arrests have been made since Apr 2012 as part of a Garda crackdown on burglaries.

Gardaí in Kildare have arrested two men over the robbery of a shop in Bunclody, Co Wexford in the early hours of this morning.

A Garda crackdown on travelling burglary gangs is being credited with a 9% drop in break-ins over the last year.

Almost 5,000 suspects have been arrested in just over a year in a nationwide operation targeting burglaries.

Justice Minister Alan Shatter has accused garda representative bodies of losing their way and doing a disservice to ordinary officers.

Over four thousand people have been arrested during the last year as part of a clamp down on burglaries.

Thefts against the person have jumped by 40% in the last year, while the spate of burglaries continues to grow, new figures show.

The number of burglaries has soared over the past year with more than 27,600 victims of the crime, figures show.

Almost a thousand suspects are facing charges after the first phase of a Garda crackdown on burglaries.

Nearly 200 people are being arrested per month as part of a national crackdown on burglaries.

Gardaí believe they have arrested all members of a gang behind a spate of ATM robberies across the South East over recent years.

Garda chief Martin Callinan said the epidemic of burglaries across the country was a causing the force a “headache”.

A major new Garda strategy to clamp down on burglaries is being launched.

A new operation aimed at targeting gangs of travelling criminals who are responsible for an 8% rise in burglaries nationally has got under way, according to Garda Commissioner Martin Callanan.