The Road Safety Authority chief is urging the Government and gardaí to boost resources to the Traffic Corps, which saw its strength plummet by 40% during austerity.

The Road Safety Authority (RSA) said it is “extremely disappointed” that just 40% of drink-driving cases listed before the country’s district courts since 2013 resulted in convictions.

Officials pull out all the stops for more than 30 sick children from Mercy University Hospital.

Businessman Jim Mansfield Jnr has failed in his legal bid to have his driving licence restored.

There will be intense competition for the two positions of deputy Garda commissioners, which are expected to attract applications from both within the force and outside the organisation.

Two Gardaí have been hospitalised following a road crash in Sligo this morning.

The Gardaí are putting their Twitter handle on the side of new squad cars.

The Garda Traffic Corps has shrunk to its smallest level since 2006 amid growing public concern about the enforcement of road traffic legislation.

Assistant Commissioner Gerard Phillips, who heads the Traffic Corps, said the numbers within his own ranks were down in recent years but that this had no impact on enforcement.

Ireland’s top traffic garda has insisted he has the manpower to fight dangerous driving on the country’s roads.

Garda Adrian Donohoe might still be alive if sub-machine guns had not been withdrawn from general use within the Garda force.

Armed gardaí will patrol Rathkeale this Christmas when thousands of transient Travellers descend on the west Limerick town from all over Europe.

Entertainer Adele King, better known as Twink, will be expected to come to court on her next birthday to face a hearing for motoring offences including driving without “reasonable consideration”.

The number of Gardaí policing the countries roads is to be scaled back.

A man is in custody in Cork this evening following a series of incidents which saw a garda slashed in the face and a stolen vehicle driven on the apron at the city's airport.

SEVEN Garda patrol cars have been decommissioned in parts of Co Cork due to excessive mileage.

A WEST CORK town was under three feet of water yesterday morning, for the second time in seven weeks.

GARDAÍ have announced a Christmas crackdown on motorists abusing the rules of the road.

A TEAM of 20 gardaí backed up by motorcyclists from the Traffic Corps are to start Operation Freeflow in Cork city from Monday next.

THE long-awaited Garda digital radio system is due to go live next week in parts of Dublin.

Drivers were today told to light up when they get behind the wheel this winter.

ARMED Garda response units are to be set up this year as part of a Garda crackdown on crime.

THE safety of gardaí on the beat is being compromised because of a lack of resources in some parts of the country, the head of the Garda Representative Association claimed yesterday.

More than 100 people were arrested for drink-driving each day over the bank holiday weekend, gardai confirmed today.

SOME 220 people have applied for three top civilian analyst positions in the gardaí.

The Garda Traffic Corps is making a difference in addressing the carnage on Irish roads, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern told the Dáil today.

Ireland has been ranked 13th of the 25 EU member states when it comes to the enforcement of road-safety laws.

The Government must not be blamed for the mounting death toll on the roads, Minister for Justice Michael McDowell warned today.

THE Garda Síochána accounts for well over half of the annual €1.85 billion budget of the Department of Justice, according to its annual report for 2004 published yesterday.

Random breath testing must be introduced to cut the mounting carnage on Irish roads, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern told the Dáil today.

The Garda operation to tackle gangland crime is to be extended nationwide and increased by nearly a third, it emerged today.

LEGAL concern about violating the rights of the individual is the primary reason why random breath-testing has yet to be introduced, Transport Minister Martin Cullen said yesterday.

THE recruitment of 33 extra gardaí to the Traffic Corps this year was yesterday criticised as hopelessly inadequate by Fine Gael.

Harry McGee, Political Editor

Justice Minister Michael McDowell is set to double the number of gardaí working in the Traffic Corps in an effort to tackle the high number of road deaths in Ireland.

THE number of gardaí working in the Traffic Corps is to be doubled to 1,100 in a bid to stop the carnage on the roads, Justice Minister Michael McDowell said last night.

The Government is to target a 25% reduction in the number of people killed on Ireland’s roads by 2006, it was revealed today.

GARDA stations around the country could be left with skeleton crews incapable of dealing with major emergencies, as up to 3,000 members of the force are drafted into Dublin for the May Day march.