Cutting-edge technology at Sonitus Systems is helping to revolutionise the noise monitoring sector, writes Trish Dromey.

The Department of Education has been rapped for failing to introduce a system that ensures that teachers in gaeltacht schools and gaelscoileanna are fluent in Irish.

The Irish-language commissioner has questioned the effectiveness of the Government’s efforts to promote the use of Irish language in the public service.

Archaeological experts believe human remains of at least four people found during digging for a new Luas line in Dublin could date back to the Vikings.

The remains of at least five people have been found by archeologists under the ground at College Green.

GIVEN its tendency to be thought about and practiced in different ways, and experienced in a sometimes sporadic and incidental way, one might reasonably pose the question where it is that architecture is thought to begin and end, and exactly whom is it thought that it ‘belongs’ to?

Legislation has been published which allows for the merger of the National Roads Authority and the Railway Procurement Agency.

The contract has been signed for the start of the new Luas Cross City line.

Almost 30 million passenger journeys were made on the Luas last year, figures show.

In Dublin, the Railway Procurement Agency has reported that 2012 has been the most successful year to date in terms of Luas passenger numbers.

The State has had to write off losses worth tens of million of euro as a result of the collapse or postponement of a number of public-private partnerships (PPP).

Public transport commuters who use monthly and annual travel passes are facing increased fares from November.

THE number of state agencies will be reduced by 48 by the end of next year but few of the services will be abolished. Instead, most will be merged with other bodies or absorbed into government departments.

HERITAGE body An Taisce has welcomed the decision by Transport Minister Leo Varadkar to put a stop to what it described as “the Metro West folly”.

The planning process for Metro West in Dublin has been suspended indefinitely.

THE Railway Procurement Agency has unveiled a pre-tax operating surplus on infrastructure activities of €1.1 million for 2010, boosted by an 8% annual increase in Luas numbers.

More and more people in Dublin are using the Luas.

THE most derided pillar in Irish public administration, the quango, has come to symbolise what is wrong with our bureaucracy.

PEOPLE appointed to state bodies in the dying days of the last government should quit their posts, a minister said last night.

The latest extension to Dublin’s transport network has been given a test run by Transport Minister Leo Varadkar.

Luas users in Dublin may be able to get free wi-fi on trams in the near future.

IRELAND has Europe’s second highest percentage of motorists but they could be tempted to leave their cars at home if public transport was easier to use.

EMPLOYERS’ body IBEC has weighed in behind the call for increased infrastructural spend by the incoming Government, but has added that an entirely new approach to funding is ultimately needed.

Ambitious plans for an underground rail link connecting Dublin city centre to the airport were given the green light today.

Some of Dublin's most iconic statues are to be removed from O'Connell Street in Dublin to allow construction of Metro-North.

Eleven jobs at a archaeological and historical consultation service provider have been preserved after the High Court gave its' approval to a scheme of arrangement with the firm's creditors.

Dublin Chamber of Commerce has today welcomed Government plans to invest billions in the city's transport network, but warned that construction involved could cause widespread disruption.

Dubliners are being encouraged to learn more about their city with a series of free walking tours beginning today.

A South Dublin couple who lost their High Court claim that they were exposed to very serious and aggravating noise from the LUAS, which runs close to their home will have to pay some of the Attorney General's legal costs.

THE Railway Procurement Agency (RPA), the body in charge of Dublin’s Luas, said it may have to take further action this year to reduce costs as passenger numbers fall.

Drivers jumping red lights in Dublin face being photographed and slapped with a fine under a new scheme cracking down on dangerous driving, it was revealed today.

A couple who claimed they were exposed to very serious and aggravating noise on a daily basis from the LUAS, which runs close to their home South Dublin home, have their lost the High Court action.

THE powers of the National Transport Authority (NTA), which has extensive control over transport providers, are strongly opposed by CIÉ chairman Dr John Lynch who claims the new super authority will increase costs and delay the delivery of key transport projects.

Tonight's Lily Allen concert at the O2 in Dublin will provide the first major hurdle for the new Luas extension in the Docklands.

THE High Court approved a 10-year rescue plan for three companies in the Fleming Construction Group, which has debts of €1 billion.

The Minister for Transport has promised a detailed investigation into what he has described as an “horrific” crash between a bus and a Luas tram on Dublin's O'Connell Street yesterday.

The northbound side of Dublin's O'Connell Street has been reopened to traffic this morning following yesterday's incident when a LUAS tram and a double-decker bus were in collision.

The northbound side of Dublin's O'Connell Street remains closed this morning following yesterday's incident when a LAUS tram and a double-decker bus were in collision.

Ireland’s Railway Procurement Agency (RPA) has awarded the infrastructure maintenance contract for Dublin’s light rail system, LUAS, to Alstom after a competitive tender, the company announced today.

The Railway Procurement Agency is reporting after-tax profits of almost €7.5m for last year.

DUBLIN’S metro system could be fully operational by 2015 if planning permission for the e5 billion project is granted this year.

An oral hearing into plans for an 18km metro line serving north Dublin is due to get underway today.

CONSTRUCTION is set to begin on a new spur of the Luas, which will bring tracks through west Tallaght and further down the N7.

Work began today on extending the Luas from Tallaght to Citywest and Saggart in West Dublin.