The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) has ordered Allied Irish Bank (AIB) to pay a Syrian dentist €4,000 over its refusal to open up a bank account for him as he was Syrian.

Gardaí investigating serious feud-related organised crime in the capital made the arrests in the north inner-city and Finglas yesterday.

Update: The Dublin Region Homeless Executive says it has sourced a large number of additional emergency accommodation to cater for families during the Pope visit.

Plans to build new garda stations and refurbish existing ones are being “significantly” affected because of a shortage of funding, the garda commissioner has warned.

A loaded revolver has been seized by Gardaí in Dublin 4.

Recorded sexual offences, assaults, and property crimes rose sharply last year, according to Garda figures.

There has been a significant increase in a range of crimes recorded by gardaí in the last year, including assaults, property crime, and public order offences.

According to new figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO), 89% of homes now have an internet connection — a 17% increase on the figure for 2010.

The Shannon audit found no evidence that Section 12 is being used in an over-zealous manner by An Garda Síochána, and that the fall-out from the 2013 Athlone and Dublin Roma cases meant some gardaí were more anxious about using it.

A finance deal to upgrade the Cork to Limerick road could be drawing closer after discussions held with the European Investment Bank in Luxembourg and Finance Minister Michael Noonan and Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe.

There has been a 20% jump in sexual offences reported to gardaí in the southern region in the first three months of this year, figures show.

With private rents now 10% higher across the country compared to a year ago, more measures are needed in addition to full rent certainty to stop people losing their homes, the Simon Communities has urged.

Garda Commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan has ordered the Emergency Response Unit (ERU) and an extra 27 uniformed gardaí into north Louth in response to the murder of Garda Tony Golden.

Cork delegates hoping to attract significant investment to the city at a major conference tomorrow are presenting a unified front despite harbouring fundamental disagreements on the best way to ensure the city’s economic prosperity.

Problems finding or affording accommodation could be worsened by growing numbers of students travelling farther to college.

Up to 73 kilometres of mainly iron water pipe is being replaced in the Dublin Region.

Gardaí have launched a new pilot scheme using "undercover bikes" to bait thieves to steal them - so they can follow suspects with the aid of GPS trackers.

Environment Minister Phil Hogan has criticised Dublin City Council over the short notice it gave householders and businesses about the introduction of severe water restrictions on Wednesday.

MOST women should be offered midwife-led care that uses fewer interventions and is just as safe as the consultant-led model, a major study recommends.

LOW landfill levies and the Poolbeg incinerator stalemate are blocking a multi-million euro investment and the creation of hundreds of jobs, waste recycling companies have claimed.

Water restrictions are likely to continue for several days in many places around the country as local authorities try to mend burst pipes and restore water levels.

IRELAND could end up paying hundreds of millions of euro in fines unless we divert more waste away from traditional dumping (landfill) and meet EU targets.

ALMOST 100 taxi drivers have been banned from operating in the industry in the past three years because they are a potential threat to the public, official Garda figures have confirmed.

Homelessness is twice as bad as official government figures, a leading charity claimed today.

THE Government has been urged to introduce an emergency action plan on jobs after new figures revealed 360 people have lost their job every working day since the start of the year.

THE number of people speaking Irish daily is at its highest point since the Famine. Government-supported research from NUI Maynooth found almost half of those surveyed believe they are reasonably competent in speaking the cúpla focal as Gaeilge, with 25% holding a conversation through the language on a regular basis.

The Small Firms Association says it expects 2009 to be even worse on the jobs front following a huge upsurge in official redundancies during the past year.

MORE than 800 members of the Society of St Vincent de Paul (SVP) attended a crisis meeting in Dublin at the weekend to plan ahead for tougher times.

OVER 200 tonnes of polystyrene will be diverted from landfill in the greater Dublin region over the next 12 months as a result of a new recycling service launched yesterday.

THE ongoing controversy about the decision of Aer Lingus to withdraw from Shannon airport throws a very clear light on the nature of Irish capitalism, the fallacy that is government planning and the true meaning of privatisation.

The man Gardaí believe is a leader of the Real IRA in the greater Dublin region was granted 24 hours bail by the Special Criminal Court today to allow him to attend his daughter's First Communion.

THE next budget must grapple with the main issues contributing to rural decline, according to Irish Rural Link.

CHILDCARE costs have soared by more than 23% in just over two years with the average bill now exceeding €120 per week.

DISABILITY activists are to take their campaign for the rights of disabled people to live independently to the European Parliament, it emerged yesterday.

THE State cannot account for an estimated 287,000 tonnes of household rubbish which went uncollected by local authorities in 2003.

CONSUMERS will spend over €20 million an hour today in a frenzy of last-minute Christmas shopping, it was predicted last night.

AT least five or six new foreign direct investment projects are in the pipeline for the greater Cork region, an IDA spokesman confirmed last night.

Irish businesses are accusing workers of feigning illness at a cost of hundreds, if not millions, of euro per year.

HOMEBUYERS and sellers are expected to save millions of euro in legal fees as a result of a price war in the legal profession.

DELAYS and extra pressure created by the A&E crisis are putting lives at risk ambulance drivers have warned.