I BELIEVE smokers provide an invaluable service to the public.

ADULT child abuse victims have been contacting crisis helplines in record numbers following Wednesday night’s Prime Time exposé on RTÉ.

THE State is inflicting “mental torture” on rape victims due to widespread delays in bringing cases to court, support groups have warned.

FURTHER evidence of the funding crisis hitting services for rape and abuse victims has emerged with the Rape Crisis Network Ireland (RCNI) revealing its members have less than two-thirds the budget they need to survive.

JUST 95 out of 335 people who sought counselling at the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre (DRCC) reported the crime to gardaí.

INCREASING numbers of refugees and migrants who have suffered sexual violence in their home countries are providing fresh challenges for rape crisis services.

Cormac O’Keeffe

THREE out of five reported cases of child sex abuse are perpetrated by a male relative, while a further quarter are carried out by a person known to the victim, apart from a direct family member, the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre (DRCC) said yesterday.

The Green Party has attempted to bring forward legislation to ban fur farming in Ireland.

CRUEL-HEARTED dog owners are kicking out their old pets and replacing them with new Christmas puppies, animal welfare workers revealed yesterday.

EOIN GALLAGHER is experiencing a fine season and the Conna amateur partnered a double at the Carbery Foxhounds point-to-point at Darrara near Clonakilty yesterday evening.