Justice Minister Alan Shatter expressed his frustration yesterday at the failure of Cabinet colleague Brendan Howlin to agree to the staffing and budget details for the State’s new human rights and equality body.

Wicklow Co Council has been fined €355,000 for criminal health and safety breaches relating to the deaths of two fire fighters.

Wicklow County Council is due to be sentenced today for criminal health and safety violations relating to the death of two fire fighters.

Wicklow County Council will be sentenced in October for health and safety violations relating to the death of two fire fighters.

Advocacy experts have warned that slashing funding to interest groups could damage society and said many in the sector believed their funding was at risk if they were too critical of Government departments and State agencies.

A father-of-five has been jailed for nine years for his part in a tiger raid in which a Dublin bank manager’s husband and two small children were held hostage in a van.

The State’s human rights watchdog wants the Government to row back on plans for mandatory vetting of all people working with children and vulnerable adults.

The DPP is to appeal the leniency of the 6 month prison sentence handed down to a Dublin businessman for a random sex attack on a woman as she walked home at night.

A former CIE bus driver has been jailed for 13 years for soliciting two undercover gardaí to import cocaine from Brazil.

Plans to overhaul the system of religious patronage in primary schools was broadly welcomed yesterday, with many claiming it was merely the start of a process of change.

The Government will again appear before the United Nations' Human Rights Council today.

An Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality will hear presentations on the proposed mental capacity legislation today.

A Dublin man who blackmailed a former Fianna Fáil councillor using photos of him allegedly taking cocaine has been jailed for 18 months.

MORE than 1,000 people packed a church in Co Cork yesterday to pay their last respects to a Circuit Court judge who was described as “a friend to everybody” and “a true man of the people.”

An 81-year-old priest named in the Murphy Report has today been jailed for two years for sexually abusing a girl 30 years ago.

The Court of Criminal Appeal has dismissed an appeal brought by a 39-year-old man against his conviction for sexually assaulting his two young daughters.

IRELAND is one of only two countries in Europe that has failed to afford any legal rights to transgender people.

A PAKISTANI man thrown in jail and later expelled from the country after his valid visitor’s visa was disputed, has won the backing of the Irish Human Rights Commission (IHRC) in his complaint against the immigration authorities here.

The Court of Criminal Appeal has increased the prison sentence from one to five years imposed on a Dublin man for stabbing another man in what the court heard was an unprovoked attack.

A man from Blarney who smashed the window of a Garda patrol van outside the GPO during the ‘Love Ulster’ Parade riots was given a three-year sentence by Judge Des Hogan at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

The Irish Human Rights Commission and the Law Society of Ireland have today expressed dismay at the speed at which the recent Criminal Justice Bill 2007 was passed by the Oireachtas.

The Government today insisted it has not finalised its plans for a national DNA database branded a threat to human rights.

A drug addict who threatened two doctors at Beaumont Hospital with a blood-filled syringe has been jailed for four years by Judge Des Hogan at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court

A drug dealer who was involved in the vicious assault of a taxi-driver who was hit with a brick while face down in a river has been jailed for four years by Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

A Chinese national has been jailed for five years by Dublin Circuit Criminal Court for his role in kidnapping two compatriots and demanding money from them.

Four Chinese nationals have pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to robbery, false imprisonment and extortion charges against fellow countrymen.

A diabetic who used her nine-year-old daughter to disguise her role in a €3.5m heroin and 'ecstasy' operation has been jailed for five years by Judge Des Hogan.

A PSYCHIATRIC nurse who made video tapes of himself engaged in sexual activities with children from the ages of four to 13 has been jailed for six years.

A Kerry-born psychiatric nurse who made video tapes of himself engaged in sexual activities with children from the ages of four to 13 has been jailed for six years by Judge Des Hogan.

A 16-year-old youth who was a passenger in a sports car that killed two gardai has pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to three charges arising out of the incident.

A garda sergeant has pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to soliciting and child pornography charges.

AMNESTY International has said Ireland’s representative at this year’s Miss World contest should withdraw instead of ignoring human rights issues in Nigeria.

A Trinity College student who dropped out and operated a 'rickshaw' has been jailed for two years by Judge Des Hogan for having cocaine and 'ecstasy' in his flat three days after gardai seized quantities of the drugs from him.

A 36-year-old security guard who had a relationship with a 13-year-old girl and fathered her child has been jailed for two years by Judge Des Hogan at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

A 22-year-old Irishman could face up to 10 years in jail for helping refugees escape from an Australian detention centre.