PAYMENTS by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to barristers last year increased by 11% to €15.2 million in spite of the Government imposing a 8% cut on lawyers’ fees in March of last year.

CARE workers say they are powerless to prevent a repeat of the Tracey Fay tragedy because their hands are tied by the law.

Classmates of murdered teenager Melissa Mahon formed a guard of honour at her funeral in Sligo today.

Murdered Sligo teenager Melissa Mahon is due to be laid to rest today.

CHILD-KILLER Ronnie Dunbar has begun a life sentence for the manslaughter of Melissa Mahon in what a judge described as an “appalling breach of trust” by the 44-year-old father of three.

Dan Buckley looks at the events leading up to the killing of Melissa Mahon.

HE was old enough to be her father, strong enough to be her protector and evil enough to masquerade as both before casually killing her and calmly dumping her body, confident that no one would find her or care enough to keep looking.

The man who killed 14-year-old Melissa Mahon has been jailed for life by Mr Justice Barry White at the Central Criminal Court.

Mr Justice Barry White today described the victim impact statement of Melissa Mahon’s family as “disingenuous in the extreme”.

THE Health Service Executive (HSE) is to review the case of 14-year-old Melissa Mahon following the conviction of a 44-year-old Sligo man for her manslaughter.

A 44 year-old Sligo man has been found not guilty of the murder of 14 year-old Melissa Mahon, but guilty of her manslaughter.

The jury in the Melissa Mahon murder trial was today sent home for a second evening after failing to reach a verdict.

The jury in the Melissa Mahon murder trial has been sent home for the evening following two and a half hours of deliberation.

The jury has retired to deliberate in the trial of Ronald Dunbar, who is accused of murdering a 14-year-old girl in Sligo three years ago.

Defence counsel in the Melissa Mahon murder trial has told the jury that, while it may not like the accused and may suspect him of some crime, it should not convict him of murder based on his daughters' accounts which are “radically inconsistent and inherently incredible”.

The jury in the trial of the man accused of murdering Melissa Mahon has now heard all prosecution evidence in the case.

The jury in the Melissa Mahon murder trial has heard that there was contact between the accused's mobile phone and the girl's mobile on the day she went missing from the care of the Health Service Executive.

The jury in the Melissa Mahon murder trial has heard that when interviewed Ronald McManus told gardaí “I’ve been waiting some time for this”.

The jury in the Melissa Mahon murder trial has heard from the accused man’s former fiancé that early in their relationship he told her that she would hear rumours that he had had a relationship with Melissa.

The jury in the trial of the Sligo man accused of killing 14-year-old Melissa Mahon has heard that the accused man's daughters were always in his company.

A forensic anthropologist has told the jury in Melissa Mahon murder trial that remains found at Lough Gill in Sligo in early 2008 were of a human female aged between 14 and 16 years.

The jury in the trial of the man accused of murdering 14-year-old Melissa Mahon has heard from another Sligo man who denies that he had a relationship with the girl.

The jury in the trial of a Sligo man accused of murdering 14-year-old Melissa Mahon has heard that a jawbone and teeth found on the shore of a lake were belonged to the girl.

The jury in the trial of the man accused of murdering 14-year-old Melissa Mahon has heard that a hypodermic syringe and a bottle marked 'caustic soda' were found in his house following his arrest.

The jury in the trial of the Sligo man accused of murdering 14 year-old Melissa Mahon has heard that she took a pregnancy test which was positive before she went missing.

The youngest daughter of the Sligo man accused of murdering 14-year-old Melissa Mahon has told a jury that she gave a number of different accounts of the killing because she was brainwashed by the accused and was trying to protect him.

The youngest daughter of the man accused of murdering 14-year-old Melissa Mahon has told a jury that he murdered the schoolgirl.

THE 18-year-old daughter of the Sligo man accused of murdering 14-year-old Melissa Mahon has told a jury she saw her fatherhaving sex with the girl.

The 18-year-old daughter of the Sligo man accused of murdering 14-year-old Melissa Mahon has told a jury that she saw her father having sex with the girl.

The 18 year-old daughter of the man accused of murdering 14 year-old Melissa Mahon has told a jury that she saw her father on a bed with the girl with his arm around her neck before he tied into a sleeping bag and threw her body into a river.

A daughter of the Sligo man accused of killing 14 year-old Melissa Mahon has told the Central Criminal Court that her sister told her that their father killed the girl.

The jury in the Melissa Mahon murder trial has been shown photographs of human remains found on the shore of Lough Gill in Sligo.

The jury in the trial of a Sligo man accused of murdering 14-year-old Melissa Mahon has heard that a picture of the accused was found under the schoolgirl’s pillow at the care home she had been placed in.

The jury in the trial of a man accused of murdering a 14-year-old girl in Sligo has heard her described by a social worker as very vulnerable and fragile.

A jury has heard that the Health Service Executive obtained a court order to prevent the man accused of murdering 14-year-old Melissa Mahon from having access to her in the days leading up to her disappearance.

The jury in the trial of a Sligo man accused of murdering a 14-year-old girl has been told that it will hear from the accused man’s daughter that she saw him tie the schoolgirl’s body up in a sleeping bag and throw it in a river.

A jury has been sworn in at the Central Criminal Court for the trial of a Sligo man accused of murdering 14-year-old Melissa Mahon two and a half years ago.

A 43-YEAR-OLD man has been arrested by gardaí investigating the disappearance of a teenage girl in Sligo.

A 43-year-old man was arrested today by gardaí investigating the disappearance of a Sligo teenager more than 18 months ago.

A MAN who says he is a suspect in the disappearance of Melissa Mahon has claimed he is innocent.

GARDA divers searching for missing Sligo teenager Melissa Mahon have found skeletal remains in a Sligo lake.

Human remains were today pulled from a lough in Co Sligo.

Gardaí have renewed their appeal for help in tracing a young Sligo girl who turns 15-years-old today.

Gardaí in Sligo and Dublin are seeking the public's help in two missing persons cases.