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.

SEEING the faces of the smiling, good natured men whose lives were brutally taken away brings home the human loss.

TWO of every five gun deaths in recent years were drugs-related, according to new medical research released yesterday.

THERE is one garda for every 322 people in the country, new figures show.

ONLY three out of ten gun murders over the last nine years have resulted in charges being brought before the courts, new figures show.

LAST week there was considerable alarm when a convicted paedophile escaped from Northern Ireland and headed South where he seemingly moved about freely even though the gardaí were notified of his presence.

CHILD pornography is becoming more available but increasingly difficult to combat, according to a new report.

WHILE the Papazian case is notorious for his diary of how killed a man, the case also raises questions about how society can predict — and prevent — would-be serial killers.

THERE was a drop in the levels of serious crime last year, but figures released yesterday also showed that the percentage of crimes solved by gardaí dropped.

THE range and variety of offences covered under child pornography legislation means that non-custodial sentences are often “the most appropriate”, a criminologist said yesterday.

If the homicide rate of last month continues on the graph it already is on, then this year could have the worst murder and manslaughter rate since garda records began.

Judge Gillian Hussey has appointed seven people to serve on the independent commission into the handling of clerical sex abuse allegations by the Catholic Church.