A record number of pensioners are seeking potentially lifesaving monitored personal alarms under the State’s seniors alert scheme.

Gardaí are hunting a burglar who broke into an apartment of a 94-year-old woman in Sligo, while in Donegal two pensioners using brush handles chased off a gang of burglars.

A 78-year-old woman has spoken publicly of her "frightening experience" for the first time following two aggravated burglaries at her home in Donegal in less than two months.