A viable improvised explosive device has been made safe by army bomb disposal experts in Dublin.

Irish forces serving in Chad will receive Christmas presents from their families in the coming days.

STRINGENT drug tests are to be carried out on Irish soldiers by Europe’s largest narcotic testing company.

A MAN was questioned by gardaí in Waterford in connection with a suspect device that was found and destroyed in the early hours of yesterday.

The Defence Forces have said that Irish troops will continue with their mission in Chad as normal after coming under fire yesterday afternoon.

Rebels trying to topple President Idriss Deby today attacked a town in eastern Chad where thousands of refugees are taking shelter.

IRISH troops went into battle yesterday in a final test ahead of their peacekeeping mission to war-torn Chad.

Soldiers were today put through their paces during intense preparations for one of Ireland’s most dangerous missions to date.

THE Defence Forces has ruled out calls for the suspension of the use of army trucks for moving army personnel following a multi-vehicle collision on the M50 yesterday in which 28 soldiers were injured.

A DECISION on whether Irish troops will be sent to Darfur as part of the United Nations peacekeeping effort will be made in the next few weeks.

IRISH soldiers seen taunting a group of locals in Liberia on a well-known website have been positively identified and will be interviewed by Military Police, the Defence Forces confirmed yesterday.

TRAGEDY struck in the early hours of the New Year when the parents of two young boys died in a house fire at the Curragh Army Camp in Co Kildare.

It has been confirmed that a suspicious device has been found inside Dublin's Mansion House.