SINN Féin would scrap the Garda Reserve and make greater use of civilian support staff to free up funds to recruit more full-time gardaí, according to the party’s justice policy document published yesterday.

A PIPER led a symbolic march by over 100 people, including relatives of the 1916 Rising leaders and politicians, through Dublin city centre yesterday to commemorate those that died during the Rebellion.

GREATER numbers of people are willing to use extreme violence when they feel they are being “slighted” in some way, a leading criminologist has said.

Sad to say, it’s a telling sign that when a statue to a Nazi collaborator goes up in Dublin, the least that happens is a splash of emulsion. Can you imagine if a statue to Marshal Pétain were erected in Paris? Or one to Quisling in Oslo? Or even of Mussolini in Italy?

THE slogan for Sinn Féin’s Árd Fheis screamed “Republicanism in the 21st Century”, but the past sticks to the soul of the party like chewing gum to the sole of a shoe.

A SPECIAL Garda initiative to combat crime and build up community policing in a disadvantaged Dublin suburb has been warmly received by local representatives.

Policing forums can be a vital bridge between communities and the gardaí in tackling drugs and anti-social behaviour, Sinn Féin claimed today.

SINN FÉIN’S ambitions of doubling its number of Dáil seats suffered a complete reverse yesterday, with the party actually losing one of the five seats it held in the 29th Dáil.

Early indications across the 43 constituencies suggest Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are performing well in the early stages of the counts at the expense of smaller parties.

Sinn Féin’s new official role in policing in the Republic of Ireland is another sign of the party’s intention to back Northern Ireland’s police, it was claimed today.

The health service, the North's peace talks and the economy will today top the agenda of Sinn Féin's autumn think-in.

A MAN escaped serious injury yesterday after a pipe bomb exploded in front of him outside his house in Coolock, north Dublin.

Dublin’s move from 'fair city' to 'Fairtrade city' looks set to go ahead this week, with cross-party support for a bid to become Europe’s first Fairtrade capital.

A FIVE-YEAR waste management plan for a region covering Limerick (city and county), Clare and Kerry, launched yesterday, contains incineration targets, which the compilers of the plan admit cannot be achieved.

STREET-CORNER dealers are becoming the new role models for youngsters, a drugs forum has heard.