The impact of the new anti-gangland task force will be “dictated” by the resources made available to it, one of its leaders said yesterday.

The Government has risked fresh criticism over the appointment of top-level gardaí.

One of the most prolific and long-running travelling burglary and robbery gangs was hit yesterday in a major Garda search operation.

Some 35 high-powered vehicles, nine Rolex watches, and €30,000 in cash, with a total value of around €1m was seized yesterday in an operation targeting a gang involved in a murderous feud.

The Criminal Assets Bureau is targeting the assets and incomes of the country’s seven biggest travelling gangs in a major crackdown.

Crime bosses are increasingly buying less flashy top-end vehicles in a bid to avoid the attention of gardaí.

A small but valuable painting stolen from an Irish art gallery more than 20 years ago is back hanging on its walls after being recovered by detectives.

A small but valuable painting stolen from a Dublin art gallery more than 20 years ago is back hanging on its walls after being recovered by detectives.

Crime bosses are increasingly using legitimate business people to launder their dirty money, according to the head of the Criminal Assets Bureau.

"WE ARE relentless." So says the head of the Criminal Assets Bureau, Eugene Corcoran.

The Criminal Asset Bureau has been a great success, but the challenges continue to grow.

As part of a major crackdown, the Criminal Assets Bureau has taken almost half a million euro from suspected criminal figures fraudulently claiming social welfare.

Disgraced TD Michael Lowry greeted a formal cross-party reprimand from the Dáil with a withering attack on opposition TDs.

Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan said an examination of the Moriarty Tribunal Report by a team of detectives should be finished “sooner rather than later”.

SPECIALIST fraud gardaí are still trawling through the Moriarty Tribunal report in a bid to establish if a formal investigation into the financial affairs of Independent TD Michael Lowry is warranted.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has claimed his shamed former Cabinet colleague Michael Lowry would quit politics in “an ideal world”.

JUSTICE Minister Dermot Ahern said there had to be “tighter controls” over access to information about jury members to ensure it didn’t fall into the hands of criminals.

IT’S a sign of the times that Irish tour operators are having to trim down operations to stay in business.

TOUR operator Budget Travel is set to axe 95 jobs and almost half of its Irish stores by October as part of a “restructuring” process caused by a 40% drop in customers.

Tour operator Budget Travel is to slash by almost a half the number of outlets it operates, and cut about 95 jobs.

A DUBLIN mother-of-eight and her pregnant daughter are still full of Christmas cheer as they enter the fifth day of a frosty 10-day vigil in search of the ultimate holiday bargain.

Tour operator Budget Travel has announced it will cease taking bookings via independent travel agents from December.

THREE more travel agents in Cork have come under the Budget Travel brand.

Ireland's largest tour operator Budget Travel has reached agreement with one of Cork’s leading travel agents, Douglas Travel, which will see the agency becoming a franchise operation of Budget.

BMI could spark off a fares war after being granted the right to fly to Mumbai in India, a service which commences on March 27.

BUDGET Travel yesterday fired the first shots in a holiday packages price war as the travel industry enters its busiest six-week booking period.

Tour operator, Budget Travel, has launched a price war in the Irish holiday market today.

The sergeant accused of raping a woman in a County Donegal garda station four years ago told senior officers they engaged in consensual sexual activity after she "had her arms around me".