A law requiring political parties to field 30% male and female candidates in the next two general elections if they are to continue to receive state funding is “a reasonable course of action to address the historic under-representation of women in Irish politics”, the High Court has been told.

A Fianna Fáil candidate who was backed by Bertie Ahern is taking a High Court case against the State as he believes gender quotas are unconstitutional.

There are calls this morning for a new Garda unit to tackle violent street crime and gangs in Dublin's city centre.

A jury in the trial of a 23 year-old man accused of murder has heard that a senior investigating garda was "stretching" when he told a central witness during questioning that he could be placed at the scene of the alleged murder.

Defence lawyers for a man on trial for murder, assault and hijack, have argued that the prosecution's main witness has lied in his statements to gardai and in his evidence to the court.

A senior Garda has told a murder trial that the main witness in the case, who told gardaí of an alleged “confession” the accused man made to him, may have been under the impression that he was suspected of involvement.