Gardaí are investigating after the bodies of two people were found in a burning car in Co Louth.

A COUNTY council chairman has been strongly criticised for suggesting that unskilled migrant workers should not necessarily be paid the same wage as their Irish counterparts and their wage should reflect the lower cost of living in their home countries.

WHEN will the Irish Government end the hypocrisy of promoting global peace while, at the same time, supporting companies that export over €1 billion worth of weapons-use material every year?

CRUCIAL components of Apache attack helicopters transported through Shannon Airport in February were likely to have been manufactured in Ireland, an Oireachtas committee heard yesterday.

A group of secondary school students bought leg irons and an electric shock baton over the internet to expose the lack of regulation of the arms trade, it emerged tonight.

The Irish branch of Amnesty Ireland is calling on the Government to support an international campaign to draft a treaty regulating the global arms trade.

IRISH-BASED companies exported €30 million worth of military equipment to the international arms trade last year

The Green Party has added its voice to growing calls for an investigation into controversial CIA flights using Shannon Airport.

Amnesty International has claimed that Ireland is exporting up to €40m of military goods every year.

I THINK Amnesty International’s statement on domestic violence in Ireland (‘Amnesty calls for violence against women to be tackled’, Irish Examiner, June 29) is a rehash of the one they issued last March.

AMNESTY International spokesman Jim Loughran says “domestic violence is not a woman’s issue, it’s an issue of human rights” (Irish Examiner, March 7).

Hundreds of protesters waving giant handprints marched on the Dáil this evening to call a halt to violence against women.

ONE-IN-FIVE women is abused by her partner, yet the Government has done little to tackle domestic violence, Amnesty International has claimed.

Human rights campaigners today demanded an end to ineffective Government statements aimed at reducing the amount of women suffering domestic violence in Ireland.

GOVERNMENT authorities will be given the power to inspect and audit companies which export military-related equipment under new laws to be introduced later this year.

IRELAND exported over €26 billion in military-related products to dozens of countries since 1997, the latest figures reveal.

STRINGENT new measures must be put in place to adequately control Europe’s booming arms trade, Amnesty International said yesterday.

Amnesty International has criticised what it calls the Government’s complacent attitude to the Irish arms trade.

AFTER years of defending the Government’s procedures for controlling Ireland’s lethal military exports, Tánaiste Mary Harney yesterday conceded the system needs to be revamped.

IRELAND exported more than €2 billion worth of restricted military and dual-use equipment in 2003, latest figures reveal.

THE Progressive Democrats refuses to accept non-EU citizens as party members despite the fact that all resident immigrants, including asylum seekers and refugees, can vote in local elections.

IRELAND is playing an increasing role in the international arms trade, campaigners warned yesterday.

HUMAN rights and refugee groups last night called for the introduction of an independent immigration monitor at Dublin Airport, following concerns over allegations involving immigration gardaí.

ALLEGATIONS that members of the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB) subjected asylum seekers to racist abuse and illegally refused to accept their claim for asylum at Dublin Airport must be investigated immediately, human rights groups demanded.

THE FIRST stage of a Government review into Ireland’s military exports has acknowledged for the first time there are gaps in the control system.

A controversial EU-US extradition agreement has been strongly criticised by Irish human rights groups.

A CONTROVERSIAL non-fatal weapon due to be given to gardaí has been withdrawn from use by other police forces around the world because it proved too dangerous.

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern was urged yesterday to press the president of Mexico on his government’s human rights record during his visit.

IRELAND is exporting software crucial to the development and maintenance of the US and French nuclear weapons programmes.