Champions Kilmallock remain unbeaten in their Limerick SHC title defence.

The Government has appointed a former Fine Gael senator to a highly paid European role worth €250,000 per year.

Less than two months after their All-Ireland Club final defeat to Ballyhale Shamrocks, Kilmallock got off to a winning start in the group stages of the Limerick senior hurling championship.

Government was not sad to see the back of Simon O’Brien, who has quit as chair of GSOC, but he did a good job and serious thought is needed on a successor, writes Michael Clifford.

Garda Ombudsman bosses should be sacked because they sought to cover up their failures in how they handled concerns that their offices were bugged.

A report commissioned by the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) into the recent leak of confidential information has failed to establish any individual responsibility "either on the part of an employee of GSOC or any other party".

The largest garda staff association has accused the Government of "knee- jerk" politics in pushing through "inordinate and undue" new powers for the Garda Ombudsman.

A leading human rights body has said that senior barristers and judges conducting reviews for the State should be held "personally accountable" for their reports.

An Oireachtas oversight committee has sought legal advice after retired judge John Cooke turned down an invitation to appear before it in relation to his investigation into alleged bugging of the Garda Ombudsman.

Retired High Court judge John Cooke has turned down a request to appear before Oireachtas committees regarding his investigation into the alleged bugging of the Garda Ombudsman.

Retired High Court judge John Cooke has been invited to appear before a joint hearing of two Oireachtas committees, either tomorrow or Wednesday week.

Independent TD Clare Daly said that "very defined viewpoints" were taken on the Cooke Report into allegations of bugging at the Garda Ombudsman’s office "to peddle a myth".

An Oireachtas committee may call for a commission of investigation into the "GSOC bugging saga" after it holds further sessions with the ombudsman and possibly with retired judge John Cooke.

Further explanations have been demanded about who tried to contact witnesses before they spoke to retired judge, John Cooke, in an attempt to influence his investigation into allegations of bugging at the Garda Ombudsman Commission’s office.

Labour leader hopeful Alex White said he stands over claims that the former Garda commissioner was fired, despite the Taoiseach saying he "does not accept" the junior minister’s "assertion".

John Cooke’s lack of curiosity has hindered the bugging report, writes Special Correspondent Michael Clifford.

Alan Shatter, the former justice minister, has welcomed the Cooke report on allegations of covert surveillance at the offices of the Garda Ombudsman.

The head of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission has said it may never be known if the watchdog agency was bugged or not because of the type of technology used in such surveillance.

Retired judge, John Cooke, is to be called before an Oireachtas committee as part of its continued examination of allegations of bugging at the Garda Síochána Ombudsman commission (GSOC).

You pay your money and you take your chances. That old cliché neatly sums up a dilemma following publication of the Cooke report. Bluntly put, people are now more confused than ever as to whether alleged bugging happened at the Dublin headquarters of GSOC, the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission.

While retired judge John Cooke has made some pointed criticisms of the Garda Ombudsman in his 65-page report, he does so largely ‘in retrospect’ and in context, writes Cormac O’Keeffe.

The head of the Garda Ombudsman has said questions remain unanswered over fears that his offices were bugged.

Interim Garda Commissioner Nóirín O'Sullivan acknowledged that the relationship between An Garda Síochána and GSOC to be “more constructive”.

The "atmosphere of frustration and tension" between the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission and the senior ranks of the force "heavily influenced" GSOC’s reaction in carrying out a security sweep of its office, an independent report has concluded.

THE story broke in The Sunday Times on February 9. In a security sweep the previous autumn, it had been discovered that there were three potential security breaches of communication systems in the office of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, located on Dublin’s Capel St.

Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald said that she has confidence in the Garda Ombudsman after a report criticised it for initiating its own inquiry into suspicions its offices may have been bugged.

The Cooke report has found no evidence of surveillance at the offices of the Garda Ombudsman Commission.

Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald will meet Independent TDs and a garda whistleblower tomorrow to discuss setting up a forum to handle dozens of serious complaints against the force.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny may not bring the long-awaited report into allegations of bugging of the Garda Ombudsman before Cabinet tomorrow, resulting in a delay in its publication.

The report into alleged bugging at the offices of the Garda Ombudsman has been delivered to the Taoiseach's office, it has been confirmed.

Labour TD Michael McNamara has told Clare FM at the Clare count centre that today’s election does clearly cause Eamon Gilmore’s leadership to be brought into question.

In the end, it was not the misleading remarks about garda whistleblowers on the floor of the Dáil; it was not the misuse of confidential information against a political opponent during a live television debate; and it was not the attempt to play down concerns that the Garda watchdog was being monitored.

His combative style and fearlessness, while often useful in a recession-time government, proved to be his undoing, writes Mary Regan.

Hundreds of records of criminal offences were “altered, erased, or falsified” after being brought to the attention of senior management by Sergeant Maurice McCabe, the garda whistleblower has claimed.

The State’s human rights watchdog has recommended a tightening of the rules for Garda covert surveillance operations.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has said that anyone who plays politics with a series of controversies involving the gardaí should hang their heads in shame.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has said anyone who plays politics with a series of controversies involving the Garda should hang their heads in shame.

Cormac O’Keeffe looks at a plethora of investigations, inquiries and reviews that are under way to try and establish the facts and assess the actions of various state agencies and individuals in relation to four separate controversies.

The coalition is under pressure to take action to resolve the crisis on the third anniversary of the last election, writes Political Reporter Juno McEnroe

A row has erupted over claims a former member of the judiciary appointed to lead an inquiry into the Garda ombudsman bugging scandal is a “Fine Gael judge”.

THE breakdown in the relationship between the Garda Ombudsman and the Minister for Justice has deepened following Alan Shatter’s appearance at an Oireachtas committee on Wednesday evening.

The Minister for Communications said a retired High Court judge's review into the GSOC bugging claims goes further than he expected.

The independent inquiry into allegations of bugging at the Garda Ombudsman will have the power to hear new witnesses.

Justice Minister Alan Shatter has a habit of saying far too much when he shouldn’t and not nearly enough when he should.