TORTURE is a strong word.

A support group for survivors of the Magdalene Laundries has demanded a state apology after an international torture watchdog recommended a statutory inquiry.

THE Ombudsman for Children has rebuked the top civil servant in the Department of Justice.

One of the country’s most senior civil servants has been criticised by the Ombudsman for Children over claims that he ignored young prisoners’ fears about jail.

GOVERNMENT officials were concerned about children sleeping rough in Dublin city centre — primarily because of the negative publicity it might generate in the year of Pope John Paul II’s visit.

A TAOISEACH has to be many things but being a marriage counsellor or delivery boy for Johnny Logan probably wasn’t on Charles Haughey’s mind when he took office.

THE United States has “ended its war on drugs” and is now moving its focus to prevention and treatment, the US drugs chief has told top Irish drug officials.

The Government backed down three times on repeated attempts to cut €2,250-a-day fees of tribunal barristers after threats they would walk away from the inquiries, it emerged today.

The Morris Tribunal is set to cost the Irish taxpayer €70m.

TÁNAISTE Michael McDowell and Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy are to meet US police chiefs, including the architect of New York’s zero tolerance policy, in a week-long visit to the country.

THE Public Accounts Committee will be asked to investigate the knock-down sale of a prison kitchen to a private company following the prison’s closure.

A special detective unit in the Republic to investigate unsolved murders during the Troubles was today ruled out by the Justice Department’s top official.

The Irish Refugee Council has rejected comments about asylum-seekers made by a senior official at the Department of Justice yesterday.

A senior official in the Department of Justice has reportedly accused most asylum seekers of lying about their situations.

A total of 878 asylum seekers were discovered cheating the state’s welfare system in the past two years, it emerged tonight.

THE Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) decided more than two years ago that no prosecution would be brought against Frank Connolly over allegations he travelled to Colombia on a false passport, the Centre for Public Inquiry (CPI) claimed last night.

PEOPLE from outside Ireland now account for one in five of all those sent to prison, new figures show.