Gardaí have moved to ease concerns after a spate of violent attacks in Cork City in which one man was doused in petrol and set alight, another suffered a fractured skull in a hammer and baseball attack, and another was beaten by a gang armed with hurleys.

As gardaí follow more than 300 lines of inquiry over the gruesome killing of Frankie Dunne, his family has said they are “numb and in shock” after his death.

A screen is to be erected to prevent a tragedy because drivers are ‘rubbernecking’ at a fire-damaged shopping centre in Cork City.

More than 30 new gardaí have been temporarily stationed in Cork city to tackle thefts, public order incidents, drugs and traffic issues during the busy Christmas period.

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has been told more needs to be done to bolster permanent garda numbers in the city and county.

Gardaí are questioning a man in his 30s after seizing €350,000 worth of heroin in the city centre.

An increasing level of drunkenness and drug-taking is being blamed in part for a rise in assaults in Cork city and county.

A consent campaign has been launched in Cork city targeting third level students - especially those on their first week in college.

Plans to double the number of community police in Cork will provide gardaí with the capacity to saturate antisocial blackspots with high-visibility patrols.

Gardaí in Cork believe they have dismantled an organised car-theft gang which was behind a spate of incidents in the city and suburbs in recent months.

The day got off to a predictable start for Garda Dónal Daly and Garda Deirdre Hayes at the regional communications centre, Anglesea Street Garda Station, Cork.

Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin said yesterday that despite the moments of extreme tension that could occur in court, they had never erupted into trouble in Washington St, Cork, for the last 24 years — “thanks to the presence of The Ringer”.

Gardaí made 90 arrests for begging or shoplifting in Cork City over Christmas, recovering an estimated €20,000 worth of stolen goods.

Gardaí say they are adopting a “very balanced approach” to enforcement of the controversial new time-regulated bus lanes on Cork’s St Patrick’s Street.

Three teenage female college students have been raped in Cork since the start of the university term.

There have been calls for a 2km traffic exclusion zone around Cork’s Páirc Uí Chaoimh during big games amid claims that parking by some matchgoers is now a threat to public safety.

Gardaí have made 36 arrests for begging in Cork City so far this month as part of a crackdown on a new wave of ‘commercial begging’ activity in the city centre.

Fears have been expressed about the re-emergence of so-called joyriding in Cork City after an almost 70% spike in the number of reported car thefts.

Household burglaries in Cork City and county have risen by 40% in recent months compared to the same period last year.

People have flown in from Romania to take part in organised begging in Cork City, a senior garda has confirmed.

Families have been forced to sell their homes in Cork’s university quarter because of a surge in anti-social student behaviour, the leader of the Seanad has claimed.

The head of the Sexual Violence Centre Cork has described a tripling in the city’s reported rape figures as a “wake-up” call.

A knife-wielding attacker was neutralised by armed gardaí during a simulated multiple-stabbing attack and hostage standoff inside a Cork City nightclub — believed to be the first emergency services exercise of its kind in the country.

Alcohol addiction is far more serious in Cork and Kerry than drug addiction, according to an expert from the HSE.

A school principal has spoken of his relief that nobody was killed or injured when the roof was ripped off its gym before slamming into nearby homes.

A retiring judge yesterday criticised some sectors of the media for swingeing attacks on sentences imposed by courts rather than addressing the more complex area of reintroducing prisoners to society on their release from jail.

The number of people reporting sexual assaults and rape is on the rise in Cork city, according to new figures.

Two Cork men accused of IRA membership have been refused bail at the Special Criminal Court in Dublin.

The HSE has launched an urgent review of oxygen systems throughout the ambulance service following yesterday’s fire which killed a patient and injured two paramedics, one severely.

Gardaí are appealing for witnesses as part of their investigation into the murder of Philip Finnegan.

The Garda investigation into the murder of Kenneth O’Brien is gathering apace after human limbs were discovered along the Grand Canal.

GAA fans attending Cork stadium Páirc Uí Rinn have been urged to park responsibly after residents complained of “feeling under siege”.

One of the biggest personnel shake-ups for years has taken place in the ranks of An Garda Siochána with six officers being promoted to the rank of chief superintendent and a further 34 inspectors elevated to superintendent.

Some 45 successful candidates for promotion to senior ranks in the Garda Síochána have been officially notified.

Material found at outsourced firm in returned application pack

Two separate weekend assaults in Cork City left one man in a critical condition and a woman in need of treatment in hospital.

Gardaí have ruled out a link between a shooting on the southside of Cork City early yesterday, and a family feud elsewhere on the southside.

Gardaí are searching for a gang who tied up an elderly woman and her daughter before stealing "a substantial sum of money" from their home in a Cork suburb.

The dwindling number of gardaí patrolling Cork City streets is at crisis point, according to the organisation representing rank-and-file members of the force.

Extra gardaí will be deployed to police certain “hotspots” in Cork City centre at weekends.

Gardaí are following a definite line of inquiry after a student had one of his ears bitten off during a savage early morning assault.

Gangs of Eastern European shoplifters have been monitoring gardaí and private security personnel before launching raids at shops in Cork City when they know they are not around.