Payments by the State to barristers in the civil courts last year soared by 22% to €12m, figures show.

An elderly Wexford resident who sexually abused three of his daughters over a period of 11 years has been jailed for six years.

A man who admitted 21 years ago to sexually abusing three of his daughters has not been prosecuted until now because some of the family allegedly forced a victim to retract her allegations, the Central Criminal Court has heard.

A former garda sergeant who attempted to pay prostitutes to get children as young as five for sex a year after he had been released for a similar offence has been sentenced to six years in prison.

THE State’s Irish language radio station yesterday insisted that there is no link between the axing of its second most popular programme and complaints from a Fianna Fáil MEP.