Vile explicit messages, purporting to be from a woman who was a childcare worker, were posted online by a man she had gone out with briefly seven years before.

Anti-abortion group Youth Defence has rejected criticism of the use of controversial images in its campaign ads and compared them to the publications of corpses in Nazi death camps.

Criticism of the decision to allow the wife of a member of the Oireachtas committee hearing submissions on abortion to make her own submission has been rejected by her husband.

The Government is set to slash exceptional needs payments for Communions and Confirmations to thousands of struggling families.

Opposition leaders have united to demand a referendum on EU fiscal union even if the Attorney General rules it does not interfere with the constitution.

CHARITIES have declared the past year one of their toughest ever, as they faced record demand for services while public donations came under severe strain.

THE Society of St Vincent de Paul (SVP) is being inundated with appeals for financial assistance as students prepare to return to classes and lecture halls.

PARENTS of youngsters celebrating their First Holy Communion spend almost €1,000 on the day, making the religious industry worth €57 million, according to a survey.

ONE of the two women at the centre of the Garda rape comment controversy said she very had very little faith in an investigation by the state’s policing watchdog.

Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan has tonight apologised on behalf of several officers who admitted joking about raping two women protesters in their custody.

One of two women protesters at the centre of the alleged Garda "rape tape" controversy has gone public to demand an independent inquiry into the policing of the disputed Shell gas project.

Shell has been granted a foreshore licence in connection with the construction of the final section of the controversial Corrib gas pipeline in Co Mayo.

Drastic cuts will condemn families on the breadline to a life of poverty, hunger and homelessness, charities and campaigners claimed tonight.

ONE of Ireland’s biggest charities is paying for more funerals — many of them due to suicide — as growing numbers of households buckle under financial strain.

ONE of the country’s largest charities has said society would pay the price for failing to help those on inadequate incomes battle through the worst effects of the recession.

The Society of Saint Vincent de Paul is warning that any cuts to social welfare rates will push more people into poverty.

THOUSANDS of hard-pressed families are being fleeced by licensed money lenders because they cannot afford to pay for basic items such as food and utility bills.

LIVING costs for couples, ageing citizens and single parents are significantly higher in rural areas compared with urban locations, because of higher food and transport prices, according to a report.

HOMELESS people, nursing home residents and terminally ill patients will all be subject to the Government prescription levy which will apply from tomorrow.

A PATIENTS’ rights group has said it is concerned over the timing and motivation of last week’s decision to halt proceedings of a medical inquiry into two surgeons responsible for the removal of a wrong kidney from a young boy.

A MEDICAL inquiry into two surgeons responsible for the removal of the wrong kidney from a young boy at Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin was dramatically halted yesterday after the committee invoked a new piece of legislation to terminate proceedings.

DELAYS with the back to school clothing and footwear grants have left the country’s largest charity inundated with pleas for help.

THE Society of St Vincent de Paul has been providing specialist help for staff encountering a high level of fear and panic, an Oireachtas committee heard yesterday.

IT may come as a shock to ordinary taxpayers that the state is supporting couples and cash-broke developers with multiple properties, but the reality is many people doubled-up on house purchases and investments in the boom.

SOCIAL welfare payments will be cut by 4.1%, affecting everyone under pensionable age and raising fears that thousands of younger jobseekers will now flee the country.

THE recent announcement by An Bord Pleanála of the dangers of the proposed Corrib gas pipeline has drawn attention to very serious issues, and not before time.

A MAJOR voluntary campaign is seeking to send truckloads of spare clothes, food and household goods to some of Ireland’s worst affected flood crisis areas by the weekend.

THE St Vincent de Paul yesterday said it expects a dramatic increase in people coming to them for help at Christmas time, with the charity already seeing a surge in calls to its offices.

The Society of the St Vincent de Paul is estimating it will make over 100,000 visits to homes between now and Christmas.

ENERGY giant Shell was hit with a serious setback yesterday after being told by planners to re-route part of the controversial Corrib gas pipeline because it posed a safety risk.

THE Society of St Vincent de Paul has seen a 50% rise in the number of calls to its Dublin help services so far this year, with struggling, middle-class families or the “new poor” emerging as the biggest concern.

Energy giant Shell has been told to re-route part of the controversial Corrib gas pipeline after planners today ruled it posed a safety risk.

The largest charity in the country says it's now spending €1bn a week providing assistance to those struggling in the recession.

THE country’s leading charities are warning they are close to breaking point trying to provide for thousands of vulnerable people in the lead up to Christmas, as demands for food, clothing and help to heat homes surge.

NEWLY unemployed people will have to wait until the new year to have their dole applications processed in at least four counties.

THERE was a big increase in the number of people sent to prison for non-payment of fines last year.

KATE is tired of the threatening letters coming through the door.

GARDAÍ made four arrests as protesters continued to demonstrate yesterday against pipe laying in Broadhaven Bay for the Shell gas facility along the Mayo coast.

A massive security operation was under way in Co Mayo today as work on the final stages of energy giant Shell’s bitterly disputed gas refinery began.

MORE than 100 gardaí, backed by a similar number of private security personnel, were last night involved in a standoff with protesters opposed to Shell’s attempt to lay a pipeline connecting north Mayo to the Corrib gas field.

A small Irish coastal community was gripped in a massive security operation tonight to allow final offshore work to begin on energy giant Shell’s bitterly disputed gas refinery.

With the Shell protests escalating, both sides agree the reappearance of the Solitaire vessel will be decisive, writes Scott Millar.