The Garda Ombudsman Commission was officially launched today.

THE new Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission will investigate the controversial death of a young man who was fatally injured in Lucan last March after being struck by a car driven by an off-duty garda.

THE Garda Ombudsman Commission, which will officially start operating next Wednesday, is expected to deal with an estimated 4,000 complaints annually against members of the garda force.

GARDA chief Noel Conroy yesterday warned officers they faced arrest if they did not co-operate with the garda ombudsman.

Rank-and-file gardaí tonight called on Minister for Justice Michael McDowell to withdraw his ‘completely untrue’ allegation about their attitude to the Ombudsman Commission.

THE new Garda Ombudsman Commission will have the staffing and budget to match the Police Ombudsman in the North, according to Justice Minister Michael McDowell.

The new Garda Ombudsman Commission will have the staffing and the budget to match the Police Ombudsman in Northern Ireland, it was claimed tonight.

A British-based construction firm was today fined €40,000 for a health and safety breach which led to the death of a four-year-old child.

An English-based construction company has pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to a breach of safety legislation leading to the death of a young child during construction work for the Ballymun Regeneration Project in 2001.

Two brothers who used a toy gun to hijack a lorry and then gave the driver €30 from the proceeds of a robbery on a shop have been jailed for a combined total of 11 years.

A heroin addict who threw a bag of stolen goods into his neighbour’s garden during a Garda raid was today given a three-year suspended sentence for burglary.

The barrister accused of intimidating a witness in a trial was cleared of the charge late this afternoon when a jury reached a unanimous verdict of not guilty in the case against him.

THE woman who complained a Cork barrister terrified her with his approach during a break in a court case never saw him as a “tiger in a wig” when he was cross-examining witnesses in the case, it emerged yesterday.

A man who tried to claim nearly £200,000 (Irish pounds) from Ladbrokes bookmakers with a forged betting slip based on the numbers of the English lottery has received a five-year suspended sentence from Judge Kevin Haugh at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

A LIMERICK school is set to be offered temporary accommodation because of the rundown conditions in their 30-year-old building.

THE roof is leaking, there are holes in the floor, the sewage pipes are broken, the heating doesn’t work - there is no money in the kitty.

A former priest was jailed for a year today after being convicted of assaulting two schoolboys.

A taxi driver who stashed cannabis worth €2.75m in a ditch behind his home has been jailed for six years by Judge Kevin Haugh at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

By Cormac O’Keeffe A JUDGE has described a lack of video evidence facilities as “appalling” and called on the Government to introduce them immediately.

A Dublin woman, who claimed she suffered serious hair loss following a colour tint at her regular hairdressers, has failed in a damages claim in the Circuit Civil court against Peter Marks.