An international law enforcement agency which is battling major drug trafficking has presented a prestigious award to a senior Cork-based garda for his work in this field.

Almost 170 people in Northern Ireland were faced with blackmail over intimate images in the last year, according to police figures.

People thinking of taking ecstasy at this weekend's Electric Picnic are misguided if they think snorting supposedly “purer” ecstasy powder is safer than tablets, one of the country's leading experts on drugs has said.

Young people attending this weekend’s Electric Picnic Festival in Co Laois have been warned of high strength drugs in circulation, particularly as a number of people have died already this year to drugs.

With Electric Picnic nearing, the Garda’s top drug officer talks to Cormac O’Keeffe about drugs, festivals and testing.

Garda bosses say the “unprecedented” number of gangland convictions in the courts in the last fortnight highlights the “unrelenting” approach of State agencies to tackling organised crime.

A three-man "hit for hire team", which included an Afghan war veteran, were planning to kill a member of the Hutch family before they were intercepted by gardaí just 250 metres from the "intended target's" home in Dublin's north inner city, the Special Criminal Court was told today.

The assault on Melania Geymonat, 28, and her girlfriend Chris happened on the top of a double-decker London night bus when they refused to kiss on a bus.

Detectives from the PSNI investigating the murder of Lyra Mckee last month have arrested four people.

The PSNI has made a fresh appeal for information as part of their investigation into the murder of journalist Lyra McKee in Co Derry.

The 57-year-old woman arrested this morning by detectives investigating the murder of Lyra McKee has been released unconditionally.

Detective Superintendent Jason Murphy, the lead detective in the investigation, this evening hailed the "massive public positive response".

A new breed of terrorist is coming through the ranks in Northern Ireland, the detective leading the hunt for Lyra McKee’s killers said.

The men, aged 18 and 19, were arrested by PSNI detectives yesterday morning under the Terrorism Act.

Two men remain in custody this morning in connection with the shooting of journalist Lyra McKee in the Creggan area of Derry on Thursday night.

Lyra McKee was killed while PSNI officers were carrying out a search operation in Derry last night.

A miniature Bronze Age axe has been recovered in Co Limerick by Gardaí and the National Museum of Ireland.

Garda figures appear to indicate a sharp rise in the quantity of cocaine being trafficked into the country, replicating trends across Europe.

Almost 3,500 juveniles got away with nearly 7,900 crimes over an eight-year period, an internal Garda report has found.

The Probation Service and Rape Crisis Network Ireland have backed draft laws regarding the disclosure of information, electronic tagging and restricting foreign travels of convicted sex offenders.

Gardaí intend to make arrests and prepare a prosecution file for the DPP in relation to the suspected laundering by a Nigerian criminal network of more than €15m through Irish and international bank accounts.

The alert was raised after gardaí in Cork recently received a report of an attempt to defraud a business via email.

Here are all the latest headlines this lunchtime.

Update 9pm: Gardai have warned people not to engage in so called vigilantism.

Matthew Horan coerced girls into sending graphic videos.

Irish people need to be more guarded in their social media activities, and businesses are not investing enough in their IT security, one of the Garda’s top cyber crime detectives has warned.

A father-of-four murdered his wife then hanged himself weeks after an anonymous note alluding to his wife having an affair was delivered through the family door, an inquest in the UK heard.

Black Friday is the new December 8, according to An Garda Síochána, with more than 50% of people expected to shop online this Christmas.

No one else was involved in the death of teenager Gaia Pope, according to British police.

Murder probe detectives are continuing to question a man believed to be known to missing teenager Gaia Pope over her suspicious disappearance.

Two prisoners are on the run from a jail in Co Antrim.

"It is no exaggeration to say those who witnessed this incident will have been deeply traumatised by what they saw.

A student is in custody after launching a ferocious attack on his teacher and three of his classmates with a cricket bat at an Australian university.

The Yorkshire Ripper has said he never attacked or murdered any men in a letter about two unsolved cases.

A senior garda officer has denied ever saying that garda whistleblower Sgt Maurice McCabe watched young girls at a school.

A man has been charged in connection with the death of a 15-year-old girl who is suspected of taking a legal high, police said.

A new report has highlighted how children as young as seven are being increasingly targeted by predators online,writes Ciara Phelan.

Online sex offenders are typically well-educated, in a relationship, and aged 25 to 50, according to the gardaí.

A man has been arrested over the murder of a loyalist in a busy supermarket car park as his three-year-old son looked on.

A man has been arrested after a loyalist supporter was shot dead in a supermarket car park in Bangor in County Down on Sunday.

LATEST: The community of Portadown, Co Armagh is said to be in shock following the murder of an elderly couple.

The partner of a mother, aged 29, who was fatally injured last Sunday at her home, has been remanded in custody after being charged with her murder.

Two brothers who used their convenience stores to groom teenage girls with free sweets and crisps have been jailed for committing a string of sexual offences.

A lone wolf dissident republican posed as the model fiancee of a Swedish ice hockey star to entrap a man into taking part in her bid to murder police officers.