The "complex and sensitive" operation to repatriate Lisa Smith and her young daughter could take weeks, rather than days, the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs has revealed.

The chairperson of the Irish Muslim Peace and Integration Council has questioned the level of efforts being made by the State to repatriate Irish woman Lisa Smith and her child.

Here are all the latest headlines this lunchtime...

A leading security expert says Ireland has become more exposed to an Islamic State-style terrorist attacks because of the failure of a government commitment made more than two years ago to double the strength of the country’s elite special forces.

There is growing concern over new state ID cards and the amount of personal data they will contain.

State ID could be required for many services including tax purposes and voting if new proposals are adopted.

A security analyst believes the Defence Forces will find it difficult to manage and police a ‘hard’ border post-Brexit.

Ireland has been described as Europe's weakest link when it comes to defence and intelligence by a leading security expert.

The selective leaking of the O’Higgins report and the attempt to sully the character of Garda Maurice McCabe are typical examples of whistleblower reprisal, a backlash against the character, reputation, and livelihood of those who speak out, says Tom Clonan

Eoghan Clonan, 13, has to lie on the ground of the Natural History Museum so his father Tom can carry his wheelchair up to the first floor, because there is no lift in this national building.

The planned deployment of around 140 crack troops on a major EU exercise has been called off as the Government failed to sign a special agreement to indemnify soldiers on duty abroad.

Joan Burton has accused Mick Wallace of putting Irish people at risk, by highlighting the US military use of Shannon (Irish Examiner, December 18).

The Taoiseach’s recent claims about deploying the Army to man ATMs at the height of the banking crisis appear to be true. So what would such a situation entail, asks Tom Clonan

More than 100 Irish troops return home today after a six-month mission in Syria's Golan Heights.

A US military plane spent a number of hours circling in Irish airspace on Tuesday afternoon.

Twenty sit-ups in a minute. Twenty press-ups in a minute. Run a mile in 11 minutes — not too high a fitness bar, but beyond many hoping to join the army.

In recent years, the Irish government sent a booklet to every household in the country titled ‘Preparing for Major Emergencies’. The

Keelin Shanley returns with a new series of The Consumer Show on RTÉ One, Wednesday.

The US military cannot project military power in the global war on terror without the use of Shannon airport as it is currently configured, says a security expert.

With reference to Sean O’Riordan’s articles on the Irish Air Corps, it is ludicrous to suggest that this impoverished country should find €70m for a fighter plane, and we would need three planes to keep two maintained in flight-readiness.

One of the two Russian ‘Bear’ bombers which flew into Irish-controlled airspace last week was reportedly carrying a nuclear weapon.

Ireland is "Europe’s weakest link" in air defence cover because our Air Corps is so poorly equipped it cannot defend our airspace against hijackers taking over commercial aircraft or intrusions by foreign military aircraft.

The Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee says the former chief executive of the CRC Paul Kiely should return part of his retirement package.

The past is a different country for Nessa Childers.

Parents “disgusted” at the deepening CRC crisis have challenged the group’s disgraced former board to explain their actions to people dependent on the service.

ON Dec 7, 2007, Jim Nugent told the Mahon Tribunal, under oath, that he had been involved in a whip-around for Bertie Ahern.

Almost a week ago, images of victims of a possible chemical attack went viral. Media outlets across the world published the horrific images of dead children in Syrian capital Damascus.

Garda detectives feel they are now outgunned by crime gangs who are importing automatic weapons from Eastern Europe.

YOU have no idea how lucky you are.

THIS week, after nine years of war, the United States finally withdrew its forces from Iraq.