A Wicklow garda has gone on trial accused of forging a letter from the Director of Public Prosecutions in relation to the investigation of a priest accused of sexual abuse.

Whistleblower Sergeant Maurice McCabe has welcomed the appointment of Noirín O’Sullivan as Garda commissioner, saying she had a "positive attitude" to reform.

The Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources is preparing for a courtroom showdown with a chemical engineer in the new year over the Government’s renewable energy plans.

Five lawyers each received fees in excess of €250,000, last year, through their work for the Chief State Solicitor’s Office (CSSO).

Two youths arrested over a cannabis seizure worth €40,000 in Finglas, in Dublin, in January, had their charges struck out today due to a delay obtaining directions from the DPP.

The family of teenager Brian Rossiter, who died two days after spending a night in garda custody in Clonmel in 2002 have settled their claim for alleged wrongful death against the State for €200,000.

TWO gardaí at the centre of a controversy in which a video of one of them dealing with a member of the public was posted on YouTube have brought High Court proceedings seeking to stop new disciplinary proceedings against them.

SENIOR gardaí backed a proposal to run a reward for information programme through national newspapers but the Chief State Solicitor shot it down.

THE Labour Party yesterday tagged Michael McDowell a lame-duck justice minister who has lost his authority.

LAST night’s announcement by Justice Minister Michael McDowell that emergency legislation designed to close the Constitutional loophole on child rape will come into law before the weekend will be welcomed the length and breadth of Ireland.

THE High Court is due to make a judgment shortly in a test case aimed at ending the two-year €400 million row between hospital consultants and their former insurer, the Medical Defence Union, over who should provide cover in medical malpractice cases.

THE decision to avoid holding the murder trial of Christopher Newman in this country is puzzling, to say the least. It needs to be explained.

The three men convicted of training rebels in Colombia should be allowed to live in peace after completing garda interviews, it was claimed tonight.

FRANK MCBREARTY junior yesterday said he had not received any offers of compensation from the State in respect of attempts to frame him for a murder that never happened.

State lawyers have written to the Donegal publican framed for a murder that never was seeking an out-of-court deal, it emerged tonight.

THE Government is set to write off a bad debt of almost €46 million from a loan issued to a defunct mining company in the mid-1980s.

THE saving of a whopping €210 million in welfare fraud gives a positive reflection, for a change, on the Department of Social and Family Affairs.

FORMER minister Ray Burke has launched a head-on legal challenge against the State to force taxpayers into footing his 10.5m legal bill from the Planning Tribunal.

A FAMILY of four who were to be deported yesterday were last night anxiously awaiting word on whether the Department of Justice would allow them to remain until they can apply for a judicial review.

Catherine Nevin, jailed for life for the murder of her husband, was beginning an appeal against her sentence today.

A regularly-published list of tax defaulters who eventually settle with the Revenue Commissioners appears in today's newspapers and, as usual, makes for interesting reading.

The Government will not be holding a referendum on the rights to education of autistic people regardless of age, according to a Government spokesperson.

John O'Donoghue is expected to make a statement to the Dail next week on the Arms Trial controversy.