A night-spot was rapped today for giving students free alcoholic drinks for a night.

THE number of people serving life sentences has nearly trebled in the last 10 years.

US-BASED show jumpers Shane Sweetnam and Kevin Babington are among a five-man squad named yesterday for next week’s Meydan Nations Cup Series opener in La Baule, France.

SHOW JUMPER Cian O’Connor says proposals put forward to eradicate the use of improper substances and practices in equestrian sport are “unworkable” and says Horse Sport Ireland (HSI) is out of touch with the equestrian community.

THE Chairman of Horse Sport Ireland (HSI) Joe Walsh conceded yesterday it will never be possible to guarantee that equestrian sport will be totally clean, but new regulations will see HSI succeed as much “as humanly possible”.

THE chairman of Horse Sport Ireland, Joe Walsh, yesterday said he was determined to “clean up” equestrian sport in the wake of Lantinus, the horse ridden by Denis Lynch, testing positive for the banned substance, capsaicin, at the Olympics.

A garda was sacked this year over his dealings with a woman who was stopped at a checkpoint, it was revealed today.

MORE than 30 gardaí were found guilty of serious breaches of discipline over the past 18 months, according to a Garda watchdog.

A REPORT by a Government-appointed Alcohol Advisory Group due to be presented to Justice Minister Brian Lenihan today is expected to recommend restrictions on the sale of alcohol through off-licences.

The appointment of the six-man group of experts to consider the implications and effectiveness of our current legislation governing the sale and availability of alcohol should be warmly welcomed.

Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform Brian Lenihan announced today that the Government has approved his proposal to establish an Advisory Group to examine key aspects of the law governing the sale and consumption of alcohol.

IN a recent article about the sale of alcohol at garages (August 2), Gordon Holmes, chair of the Garda Síochána Complaints Board, said, “You are permitting people who are attached to garages, where cars go for petrol, to sell drink to the people who are driving those cars. I think the perception of that must raise queries in any ordinary person’s mind.”

GARDA Commissioner Noel Conroy yesterday hit back at criticisms of him and the force by the head of the Garda watchdog.

THE Government must limit the number of industry representatives on the new expert body to review the alcohol licensing system, a leading expert said yesterday.

The Garda today flatly dismissed scathing criticism over its alleged inability to apologise for wrongdoing.

At the launch yesterday of the annual report of the Garda Complaints Board for 2006, the chairman, Gordon Holmes, called for a reappraisal of the licensing laws in light of the increase in public order offences taking place around the country after closing time. This has been partly responsible for growing number of complaints against the gardaí.

GARDAÍ have a “total inability” to apologise to people when they make genuine mistakes, the head of a Garda watchdog said yesterday.

The chairman of the Parole Board says more consistency is needed in the sentencing process at Irish courts.

AS if things weren’t bad enough for the PDs, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern couldn’t get the name of one of his PD junior ministers right last night at a function in the unfortunate TD’s home city.

THE head of the Parole Board yesterday said he favoured the abolition of the remission system in prisons, which entitles inmates to an automatic reduction of 25% off their sentence.

FORMAL allegations that gardaí were verbally and physically abusive at a recent anti-Shell protest in Mayo have been sent to the Garda Complaints Board.

THE Garda Complaints Board (GCB) yesterday strongly criticised gardaí for using the system to avoid answering serious complaints of abuse.

More than 1,170 complaints were made last year against members of An Garda Siochana, new figures released today revealed.

The chairman of the Garda Complaints Board has said he believes it's wrong that the State pays pensions to gardaí who retire before serious complaints against them are investigated.

A garda who was cleared of assaulting three protestors during an anti-globalisation protest on May Day 2002 has lost his legal bid to stop the Garda Complaints Board from dealing with a complaint against him.

INCREASINGLY violent Irish cities were yesterday compared by the head of the parole board to “Chicago in the ‘20s and ‘30s”.

The chairman of the Parole Board has criticised the Taoiseach's recent comments that people sentenced to life in prison should never be released.

Gangland killers and terrorists should serve at least 15 years in jail, Minister for Justice Michael McDowell insisted today.

Retired Supreme Court judge, Mr Justice Ronan Keane, and former Attorney General, Eoghan Fitzsimons SC, are to head a new appeals body for Irish horse racing, it emerged today.

Jimmy Woulfe, Mid-West Correspondent

CONVICTED sex offenders could be released early under new plans, if they agree to take part in treatment programmes in prison.

JUSTICE Minister Michael McDowell yesterday insisted Patrick Holland, who denies murdering journalist Veronica Guerin, would serve out his sentence in Portlaoise Prison.

The number of prisoners participating in a sex offenders programme in jails has declined over the last few years, it emerged today.

A strong message must be sent out that criminals convicted of murder will serve lengthy prison sentences, it was warned today.

The acceptance by the Garda Representatives Association (GRA) that gardaí should give an account of their movements when being questioned is a welcome development.

IN 2004, PrimeTime featured the story of a young Wicklow man who claimed he had been assaulted in garda custody.

A GARDA was deducted four weeks pay last year for sexually harassing a minor by making “inappropriate” gestures of a sexual nature towards her, the garda watchdog said yesterday.

JUSTICE Minister Michael McDowell’s plan for continental-style café bars will worsen the country’s alcohol problem by making it more readily available, a member of the Strategic Task Force on Alcohol has warned.

THE University of Limerick yesterday saluted a lawyer, an entrepreneur, a politician and a philanthropist with honorary doctorates.

The former President of the European Parliament, Pat Cox, and the late art historian and philanthropist, John Hunt, have been awarded honorary degrees at the University of Limerick.

The opinion expressed by Parole Board chairman Gordon Holmes in relation to prison sentences for murder would be echoed by most people concerned at the seemingly upward curve of the crime graph.

ANYONE convicted of murder should not be eligible for early release until they have served at least 12 years, according to the chairman of the parole board.

DECISIONS on possible disciplinary proceedings against gardaí arising out of the May Day clashes in 2002 are due to be made in the coming weeks.

PRISONERS applying for early release could end up finishing their sentences before the Parole Board rules on their application because of delays in processing their cases.