A FAMILY home was saved from burning down thanks to a large pair of knickers.

Politicians demanding harsh prison sentences for criminals are out of step with public opinion, campaigners claimed today.

THE public want more gardaí but fewer prison places as their first response to tackling crime.

A smoking ban in prisons will create a new black market for tobacco among inmates and compound problems of bullying, violence, smuggling and corruption, it was claimed today.

JUSTICE Minister Micheal McDowell’s plan to encourage prisoners to undergo voluntary drug tests is a publicity stunt which won’t address drug use in prisons, penal reform experts said yesterday.

The Government’s plan to encourage prisoners to undergo voluntary dope tests is a publicity stunt which won’t address drug use in prisons, it was claimed today.

MANDATORY drug tests, closed visits for addicts and dog units will be introduced as Justice Minister Michael McDowell yesterday vowed to eliminate the supply of narcotics into the State’s prisons.

Prison reformers tonight accused Justice Minister Michael McDowell of pursuing ignorant anti-drugs policies after he revealed plans for a zero tolerance crackdown on jailed addicts.

The Government’s approach to the prison system is misguided and uninformed, it was claimed today.

Cormac O'Keeffe

JUSTICE Minister Michael McDowell was yesterday accused of “censoring” the Inspector of Prisons under new plans.

America’s CBS News has mounted an aggressive defence of its report about President George Bush’s service in the Air National Guard, saying broadcast memos questioned by forensic experts came from “what we consider to be solid sources”.

AN argument is raging over whether documents which suggest US President George Bush lost his status as a National Guard pilot during the Vietnam War may be fake.

Documents which suggest President George Bush lost his status as a National Guard pilot during the Vietnam war because he fell below Air Force standards and disobeyed an order may be fake, it emerged today.

Plans for a new prison on the outskirts of Dublin to replace Mountjoy jail are motivated by money and not the welfare of prisoners, it was claimed today.

PENAL reformers yesterday told UN drug chiefs that clean needles should be made available in prisons to cut the spread of infectious diseases, such as hepatitis and HIV.

The Irish Penal Reform Trust has criticised Justice Minister Michael McDowell’s plans to privatise two prisons.

HIV infection rates among Irish prisoners are 10 times higher than the general population, a prison reform group said yesterday.

PENAL reformers, criminologists and academics will this week call on Justice Minister Michael McDowell not to privatise prisons.

INFECTION levels of HIV and Hepatitis C have reached epidemic proportions in prisons, according to a new report.

Connacht 30

Two shops called CleanFlicks are hiring out "wholesome" videos with sex and violence cut from hit films like Titanic and Matrix.