Minister of State John Halligan has joined fellow political representatives from Waterford in calling on Garda Commissioner Drew Harris to ensure the city is the new headquarters of the planned merger with the Kilkenny/Carlow division.

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris is expected to decide in the coming weeks what garda divisions are to lose their headquarters under the new Garda restructuring strategy.

But all the chairmen of the joint policing committees spoken to agreed that the new policing model must result in additional garda resources on the ground – which Garda Commissioner Drew Harris said the plan will involve.

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has summoned local commanders to a meeting in the Garda College, Templemore, next Monday on his new policing plan.

A network of 19 “mini police forces” is to be set up across the country under a massive restructuring of the Garda organisation.

Most local garda divisions are set to double in size in a massive shakeup of the Garda organisation, under proposals seen by the Irish Examiner.

A lobby group fighting for better pay and conditions for the Defence Forces is considering mounting an assault on the Dáil — through the ballot box.

Minister for Rural and Community Development Michael Ring has described as ‘amazing’ the €19 million spent on administration of the Leader rural development programme, while development project expenditure only amounts to €6 million.

The Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) has 30 targets in its sights in Cork but has asked the public for more tip-offs about people who may be living suspiciously lavish lifestyles.

Burglaries in two of Cork’s three garda divisions have shot up by a third in the 12 months to the end of March.

Twice as many rapes and sexual assaults were reported to gardaí in Cork City last year compared to 2016.

There are “unacceptable delays” in the examination of digital devices in child abuse investigations, despite calls for an “urgent review” of the area more than three years ago, according to the Garda Inspectorate.

Almost 260 jobs were created by small companies in Co Cork last year with the help of more than €1m in grant-aid.

The Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) is conducting 14 investigations in Cork city and county, targeting drug dealers, gangs of burglars, and those involved in organised prostitution.

The numbers of community gardaí have been axed by almost 40% in the last seven years and continue to fall in many divisions.

Gardaí in Cork earn the least amount of overtime pay in the entire country.

The Garda watchdog has welcomed improved levels of co-operation from members of the force in the past year but claims there is room for further improvement.

Burglaries in the Cork North Garda division rose by 7% over the past year at a time when such crimes fell nationally by over 18%.

A major garda garda operation in conjunction with motor rally organisers is being put in place in Killarney, Co Kerry, where up to 80,000 people are expected to congregate, this weekend, for an international event.

New president Joe Healy has pledged greater transparency in the IFA, after a low election turnout pointed to the challenges ahead for IFA’s 15th president.

Sharp rises in burglaries were recorded in two of Cork’s three Garda divisions last year, despite a general reduction in overall crime levels in the nationwide.

A three-seat constituency that has only ever returned Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael TDs stayed true to form, despite a dramatic late twist which nearly provided a Lazarus-like comeback for an Independent candidate.

The number of incidents of children being removed from the care of their parents or guardians by gardaí over fears for their safety recorded a sharp decrease last year.

Overall crime levels fell by almost 2% last year, according to official Garda statistics, but crime rates actually increased in five counties, including Dublin.

Garda manpower resources in the southern region, which covers Cork, Kerry, and Limerick, fell by 2.2% last year with 48 fewer gardaí stationed in the three counties compared to 2013.

Garda drug units across the country have seen their numbers slashed by 30% in the last four years, figures reveal.

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Eight people were arrested yesterday on suspicion of involvement in fraudulent motor insurance claims arising out of fake car accidents.

She had what many would have considered the dream job — interning for the senior style director of Elle magazine and living a Devil Wears Prada-style life in New York.

The number of recorded crimes has fallen across the three Garda divisions in Cork by a combined average of 6.7% in the past year.

The Garda Síochána is facing a "ticking timebomb" as its ageing car fleet looks set to "crash" to a halt at the same time, the head of the Garda Inspectorate has warned.

There was a sharp increase in the number of robberies across Cork’s three Garda divisions in 2013 at a time when the incidence of such crime was falling nationally.

There will be around 730 fewer Garda cars by the end of next year compared to 2009 if no extra money is made available in the budget

The strength of Garda drug units has been slashed over the last four years, official figures show.

Staffing levels at Garda stations around the country decreased by 3% last year as 370 officers left the force.

A number of branches of the Garda Representative Association have voted in favour of 'blue flu' industrial action if garda pay is cut.

The bureaucratic obsession with management objectives is undermining efforts to combat drug misuse, according to the head of the Southern Regional Drug Task Force.

Burglaries in Cork City and county have risen by 42% in the past three months compared to the same period 12 months ago.

More than €11 million was spent in the past year maintaining ageing Garda cars, figures show.

THE director of the Clare Crusaders Clinic in Ennis yesterday claimed that vital services from the HSE are not there for children requiring speech and language therapy.

CANNABIS cultivation, sexual assaults and petty theft rose significantly across Cork last year, bucking a trend which saw a major fall-off in most crime across the county.