The Minister for Justice Charlie Flanagan has sought an investigation into allegations surrounding surveillance in prisons.

A senior Siptu official told a hearing "the Abbeylara scenario was on everyone’s minds" when trying to defuse a five hour stand-off between the Garda Emergency Response Unit and a council worker four years ago.

A former council foreman has recalled how members of the Armed Response Unit trained their Uzi machine guns on him during a five-hour stand-off four years ago.

A former mayor of Newbridge finished a marathon “in a fairly fast time” at a time he was claiming a chest infection prevented him from returning to his job, according to Kildare County Council.

Nurses working at St Patrick's Hospital in Cashel, Co Tipperary have voted for industrial action.