Gardaí are angry they are being treated the same as pen-pushing civil servants under new legislation which will lead to sick pay entitlements being cut.

There should be increased sentences for those who viciously assault gardaí, and extra supports to help officers who are so stressed by their jobs they consider suicide.

The largest garda representative association has told the Government it should appoint Noirín O’Sullivan as Garda commissioner.

Garda recruitment will not keep pace with retirements, leading to a worse service for the public, according to the group representing the country’s frontline gardaí who fear the force will soon fall below 13,000 overall.

The Garda Representative Association said it still has no confidence in the Justice Minister.

Attacks on gardaí are becoming more vicious and more common, according to the association representing frontline staff, which has demanded that the Department of Justice publishes the number of assaults annually.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny was again forced to deny sacking former Garda commissioner Martin Callinan as Fianna Fáil tabled a Dáil motion of no confidence in embattled Justice Minister Alan Shatter.

The largest garda staff body has sought assurances from Garda management that no improper recording of phone calls took place in stations.

The body representing rank-and-file Gardaí has insisted that no member of the Garda rank was involved in recording telephone conversations.

Last week, Adrian Donohoe should have been celebrating his birthday, surrounded by his wife Caroline and two children Amy and Niall.

Garda detectives feel they are now outgunned by crime gangs who are importing automatic weapons from Eastern Europe.

Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan claims there is no political interference in the way the force is run and says he does not believe there is a need for an independent police authority to oversee it.

Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan has challenged rank-and-file officers to prove allegations that official crime figures are being massaged.

GRA president John Parker has said that new crime categorisation guidelines has led to the "massaging" of statistics.

One garda a day is becoming insolvent, others have lost their homes through bankruptcy, and many more have become so disillusioned with the job and the country that they are planning to resign or emigrate.

Delegates representing rank and file gardaí will demand they have a voice at future negotiations on pay.

District Court summonses have plummeted in the first quarter of this year due to new directives to gardaí.

Frontline gardaí are to demand an independent police authority, to remove political influence from a force which they maintain is being stripped of its power to protect the public and tackle crime.

The president of the Garda Representative Association has said that the Justice Minister is divorced from the reality of fighting crime.

The association which represents the country’s rank-and-file gardaí has warned the Government that if it carries out its threat to cut its members’ wages it will retaliate by pursuing breaches of the EU working time directive in the courts.

Thirty members of the Garda Representative Association are planning to protest outside Dublin Castle.

Despite a significant amount of dissent, rank-and-file gardaí have voted to invite Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan to speak at their annual conference.

As relations between the gardaí and Justice Minister Alan Shatter grow increasingly strained, a government TD has asked the Taoiseach to appoint a junior minister to the department, claiming Mr Shatter “doesn’t have the time to engage properly with gardaí”.

The body representing rank-and-file gardaí has confirmed it is not inviting Justice Minister Alan Shatter to its annual conference at the end of April.

Garda representative associations look set to up the ante in their fight against pay cuts following remarks made by the justice minister, who accused them of doing a disservice to their members by holding protests.

Gardaí will refuse to issue fines for motor tax offences from today as part of a ratcheting up of their pay row with the Government.

The head of the independently appointed Garda Inspectorate has said the Government is using a plaster to cover up the haemorrhaging of patrol cars on the country’s roads and needs to do more to address the problem.

Ambulance personnel are joining gardaí in withdrawing voluntary cover from public events in protest against the Croke Park deal.

Gardaí have refused to volunteer for overtime at a football match in Croke Park in Dublin this evening.

The public will not be put at risk when gardai restrict work practices and stop using their own cars and equipment for work, officials have claimed.

Senior public sector trade union leaders have been accused of “sacrificing” frontline workers, further deepening the divide between emergency service personnel and the rest of the public service.

The Garda Representative Association has said it will escalate action "incrementally" if its members pay and allowances are threatened.

Talks on an extension to the Croke Park agreement will resume 10.30am this morning.

Make-or-break talks and crisis meetings will be held this week as protesting unions ratchet up their campaign against pay cuts.

Justice Minister Alan Shatter has provoked fresh anger among rank-and-file gardaí after he claimed their planned industrial action threatened the “command structure” of the force.

Rank-and-file gardaí will “turn off the goodwill tap” as part of a work to rule from Feb 22 if the Government tries to cut their pay and conditions through Croke Park II.

As talks on Croke Park II enter a crucial phase, private sector employers’ group Ibec has called for increments in the public sector to be scrapped and pension entitlements to be scaled back.

In a further escalation in their dispute with Garda management, rank-and-file members of the force have taken an unprecedented vote to bar their commissioner, Martin Callinan, and other members of Garda management from the forthcoming annual general meeting of the Garda Representative Association (GRA).

More than 350 gardaí in Cork have voted overwhelmingly in favour of a motion of no confidence in the justice minister and the Garda commissioner, in the first tangible sign of insurrection over proposed wage cuts.

Nurses have again threatened to withdraw from talks on a new Croke Park agreement if the Government continues to target their earnings.

Gardaí cannot afford to pay their mortgages and bank loans, according to the body that represents rank and file members of the force.

Rank-and-file gardaí have joined with sergeants and inspectors in withdrawing from talks on a new Croke Park agreement.

The Garda Representatives Association is expected to strongly reject cost-cutting measures proposed by the Government at a meeting later today.

Proposed drop-in clinics to replace closed Garda stations are akin to saying to criminals “please make a date with crime”, Garda representatives have said.