Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy insisted today that his cash-strapped rank-and-file will not be sacked if they cannot pay their mortgages.

DNA tests have confirmed that a body found by the Italian authorities is that of missing Limerick pensioner Mairead Geary.

The former policeman whose bus rampage caused the death of a 62-year-old mother was a paranoid schizophrenic who believed he was being pursued by several police forces and intelligence services.

Gardaí were tonight investigating a possible drugs link to the murder of a father-of-one who was shot dead in north Dublin a year and a half after a friend disappeared.

VANDALS who desecrated the grave of a garda have been described as “the lowest of the low”.