VICTIM support groups and Fine Gael have led calls for the mandatory use of victim impact statements in murder trials.

VICTIM and civil liberty groups yesterday criticised the composition of a top-level committee tasked with re-balancing the criminal justice system.

A VICTIM of clerical abuse centrally involved in pushing for a State investigation into Dublin archdiocese last night welcomed the publication of the inquiry’s terms of reference.

It is an ill-considered move to leave Victim Support in the financial limbo the organisation will find itself in when State funding ceases at the end of this month.

MANY presents are still lying unwrapped under the Christmas tree in homes around the country because their recipients are not around to open them.

FORMER Victim Support chief executive Lillian McGovern said she was satisfied with a last-minute settlement reached in her employment appeals claim.

NINE Victim Support board members have already resigned from the troubled organisation because of the alleged bullying and aggression of one member, it emerged yesterday.

IRELAND’S leading support group for victims of crime is in crisis after the resignation of two-thirds of its board last night.

A HIGH-PROFILE advocate for crime victims is taking action against her former employer, claiming she was subjected to a campaign of bullying and harassment and forced out of her job.

VICTIM support groups yesterday welcomed a new test to tell if a drink has been spiked.

VICTIM support groups bitterly clashed yesterday with the Christian Brothers after the religious order said claims of abuse in its institutions were exaggerated.

RELATIVES of murder victims must be given an opportunity to speak at the conclusion of trials, a support group urged yesterday.

VICTIMS of violent crime will be entitled to much less compensation under controversial law changes due to be implemented shortly.

FAMILIES and friends of the estimated 1,800 people who go missing here every year can now reach for the phone for help and support.