THE much-anticipated and hyped state visit to the Republic of Ireland by Queen Elizabeth II, due to take place before the end of President McAleese’s term of office in 2011, drew a curious comment from the Minister for Foreign Affairs Micháel Martin recently.

AN Oireachtas committee will be asked to seek an explanation from the Court Service over the closure of two district courts in Co Cork.

IN my letter of July 6, I asked if the Reform Movement would add its voice to calls for the British government to comply with a request from the Oireachtas for information believed to be in the possession of the British state which would be of assistance in identifying those responsible for carrying out acts of terrorism in this state by loyalist paramilitaries, some of whom were believed to be in collusion with elements of British security forces.

ON Sunday, August 17, in the company of the Mayor of Kilkenny at Rothe House in one of his final official engagements in this State, the British ambassador to Ireland Mr David Reddaway raised the political temperature somewhat by referring to the ‘imminent’ visit to the Republic of Ireland by Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II.

A senior garda officer was today appointed to re-examine the investigation into the murder of a Dundalk forestry worker 30 years ago.

THE family of a murdered Dundalk forestry worker murdered by a loyalist sectarian gang say they have given up hope of his killers being brought to justice.

The family of a murdered Dundalk forestry worker have given up hope of his killers ever being brought to justice, it emerged today.

THE decision not to interview four key suspects in the murder of a Dundalk forestry worker 30 years ago was probably political, a judge said yesterday.

The decision not to interview four key suspects in the murder of a Dundalk forestry worker 30 years ago was probably political, a judge said today.

A GOVERNMENT-appointed task force is needed to tackle the growing levels of sexual and domestic violence, the Labour Party said last night.

A widow who has waited over 30 years to find out who killed her husband in a series of bomb attacks is hoping today that a long-awaited report will help bring her closure.

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern will pursue the setting-up of a Cory-type investigation into the 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombing atrocities with British Prime Minister Tony Blair when the two meet in September.

HAVING been denied justice for close on three decades, the relatives of victims of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings deserve nothing less than a sworn public inquiry into the atrocities.

FAMILIES of those killed and injured in the Dublin and Monaghan bombings have called on the Government to press for a full-scale international inquiry into the atrocity.

The British Government’s deliberate obstruction of the investigation by Mr Justice Barron into the Dublin and Monaghan bombings warrants a more proactive response than that displayed by Minister for Foreign Affairs, Brian Cowen, yesterday.

The long and persistent campaign for justice by the relatives of the victims of the horrific Dublin and Monaghan bombings more than 30 years ago, was vindicated yesterday with the publication of the Barron Report.

THE first witnesses in the Abbeylara Tribunal will begin giving evidence today, as public hearings into the shooting dead of John Carthy start in Dublin.

Today marks the 27th anniversary of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings, when - on May 17 1974 - 33 people died and hundreds more were injured and maimed in the attacks on Dublin and Monaghan pubs.