The head of the Government’s strategy to find jobs for people with disabilities has insisted the Coalition plan will create real jobs and not lead to a return to vulnerable people being “taken advantage of” by unscrupulous employers.

Only a small fraction of more than 1,400 victims who were sexually exploited as children in Rotherham over a 16-year period have come forward for help, according to a lawyer representing survivors.

Campaigners have reacted with horror after it emerged some One Direction fans were urging others to self-harm in reaction to the news Zayn Malik has quit the chart-topping boyband.

The “best opportunity” to catch Jimmy Savile over abuse claims was missed by police who decided not to interview the former headteacher of a children’s home, it was claimed today.

A Kentucky Fried Chicken advert featuring call centre workers singing with their mouths full is the most complained-about UK campaign of all time, the official watchdog has revealed.

A family with four children will be at least €432 worse-off a year as anticipated child benefit cuts swept through all sectors of society.

Education Minister Ruairi Quinn has called on publishers to slash the price of school books.

Leading children’s rights campaigner Fergus Finlay today put himself forward to be considered in the presidential election.

A “frightening” number of children who go missing end up being sexually exploited, a charity warned today.

The Chief Executive of Barnardos has condemned the outcome of the Irish Bishops' meeting with the Pope as "shockingly anti-climactic".

An independent inquiry is to be carried out into the handling of the 'House of Horrors' child abuse case, health chiefs confirmed tonight.

Subsuming the Combat Poverty Agency into a Government department would destroy the watchdog’s independence and ability to carry out vital work, it was warned today.

Politicians in the North hit out at the UK government tonight after it decided to reduce the sexual age of consent in the province against the wishes of the Stormont Assembly.

WE SHOULD be very happy that the majority of children surveyed by the children’s charity Barnardo’s say they are happy to be alive in Ireland today.

The children’s charity Barnardo’s has called on the Government to increase the family incomes of the one-in-nine children in Ireland living in consistent poverty.

ONE can only hope — probably in vain — that the sentiments expressed recently by Dr Martin McAleese, while visiting Barnardos’ ‘Da Project’ in Dublin, are taken on board by the incoming Government.

It is not good enough for Justice Minister Michael McDowell and a garda spokesperson to dismiss as “human error” the failure of the gardaí to act on information relating to an international child pornography ring.

CHILDREN’S organisations yesterday welcomed a new agreement between Ireland and Britain on tracking sex offenders but said it was not clear if it dealt with those who failed to inform authorities of their movements.

A database of primary school pupils must be set up to track up to 1,000 young people who fail to progress to secondary school, a children’s charity demanded today.

Merging cross-border controls on child safety was today discussed at the first formal gathering of protection agencies from the Republic and Northern Ireland.

ONE would have imagined US President George W Bush had enough on his plate in Iraq and Afghanistan, but it is characteristic of the man that he is now concerned with the democratisation of Cuba.

Animal rights activists today took their fight to have mink farms shut down to the doors of one of the country’s leading fur retailers.

A woman seeking to become the first from Northern Ireland to reach the summit of Mount Everest begins her ascent this weekend, it was announced today.

Almost 30% of Christmas presents are unwanted, a charity estimated today, and appealed for help in giving them a good home.

The children’s agency Barnardo's has asked for increased budgetary funding in order to extend bereavement counselling and other services nationwide.

The President, Mary McAleese, has officially opened the new Barnardo's regional centre in Cork.

Two former care workers at a Barnardos home in Northern Ireland were today jailed for abusing and sexually assaulting children.

Two former carers at a Barnardos home were convicted today of a string of sex abuse charges against young children.

IN MY search for my late father’s two brothers I was fortunate to trace the son of one of them.

Fans of Mickey and Minnie Mouse are set to flock to stores as Walt Disney’s cartoon creations celebrate their 75th birthdays.

Binge drinking sessions account for more than half of Irish men’s nights out, new research showed today.

Up to 20 children are working as prostitutes in Northern Ireland, it was claimed tonight.

A decision to let victims of child abuse access their Government files through children’s charity Barnardo’s was today defended by a minister.

The children's charity Barnardo's is moving to calm fears expressed by the Adopted People's Association about a State child abuse database.

A HEALTH board has ordered an independent review into the handling of a case involving one of its employees who was accused of sexually abusing children.

Cherie Booth was today following in the footsteps of her husband, Prime Minister Tony Blair, by being awarded a top legal honour during a visit to the Irish Republic.

National Spam Week has fallen victim to the foot and mouth outbreak.