Water will be shut off in Tulla and Broadford in Co Clare today from 11am to 4pm and again tonight from 8pm to 8am.

MORE than a week gone, homes ruined by incessant floods, a crisis in the church, a horrendous budget looming.

THERE is “no end in sight” to the country’s devastating flood problems with high tides expected on top of more rainfall next week, the Government’s emergency response group warned last night.

The ESB has confirmed it is to release more water from Parteen Weir.

PEOPLE living in flood- risk areas in Co Limerick below Parteen Weir were yesterday warned to prepare to evacuate at short notice as more water had to be released through Ardnacrusha ESB power station due to record high levels on Lough Derg.

Anxious communities along the banks of the River Shannon were tonight bracing themselves for devastating floods after waters reached record heights.

RESIDENTS were bracing themselves last night as the lower Shannon threatened to burst its banks for a second day and with Co Clare under a severe flood warning.

A €12m emergency fund for flooding victims was tonight dismissed as too little to cope with the devastation.

Flood response efforts are continuing across the Mid-West, with local authority staff, fire and rescue crews, the ESB, the army and the Gardaí providing 24-hour response to the flooding crisis on the ground.

Floodwaters are still rising in the Shannon Banks area on the outskirts of Limerick city.

THE ESB stopped releasing water from the Ardnacrusha power station and Parteen dam last night to help ease the threat of flooding to hundreds of homes on the Limerick city side of the power station.

The county council in Clare has issued a warning of further flooding along the lower River Shannon over the coming days.

THERE were renewed calls yesterday for increased patrols in the northern suburbs of Limerick that lie in Clare.

A NEW way of introducing the nuclear industry to Ireland is being floated by some economists who have close links to the Government.

A 16-year-old girl is being treated at the Sexual Assualts Unit in Cork following an alleged rape in Limerick city.

TWO men and a woman were arrested yesterday in connection with the murder of a middle-aged man, beaten and left for dead under a bridge in the midlands.

Six men were cleared of being members of the Continuity IRA and one man was convicted of the charge at the Special Criminal Court today after one of the longest trials in the history of the court.

The Special Criminal Court has reserved judgment in the trial of seven men suspected of membership of the dissident republican organisation, the Continuity IRA.

The case against seven men accused of Continuity IRA membership was a "garda driven prosecution" inspired by a political agenda, a defence counsel told the Special Criminal Court today.

A Limerick man told the Special Criminal Court today that he was at a Republican Sinn Fein meeting discussing a forthcoming republican commemoration when gardaí raided a house in the city.

A Co Clare man arrested at an suspected Continuity IRA meeting in Limerick denied at the Special Criminal Court in Dublin today that he was ever a member of an illegal organisation.

The vice president of Republican Sinn Fein (RSF) and the organisation's PRO in Limerick denied at the Special Criminal Court today that they were members of the IRA or any paramilitary organisation.

The Special Criminal Court today heard further legal submissions from defence counsel for seven men accused of membership of the Continuity IRA in Limerick.

Legal submissions continued today at the Special Criminal Court trial of seven men accused of membership of the Continuity IRA in Limerick.

Defence lawyers for seven men accused of membership of the Continuity IRA argued at the Special Criminal Court today that the gardai had no power to arrest the men on suspicion of membership of an illegal organisation without a warrant.

The prosecution case against seven men accused of membership of the Continuity IRA is expected to close tomorrow after the court allowed two further State witnesses to give additional evidence.

The prosecution today closed its case in Special Criminal Court on the 34th day of the trial of seven men suspected of membership of the Continuity IRA.

A garda witness in the trial of seven men suspected of membership of the Continuity IRA today denied kicking and punching one of the accused during the course of arrest.

One of seven men arrested at a suspected meeting of the Continuity IRA in Limerick, denied that guns were discussed at the meeting, the Special Criminal Court heard today.

One of seven men suspected of membership of the dissident Continuity IRA told gardai that he was a member of Republican Sinn Fein and was not involved in any illegal organisation, the Special Criminal Court was told today.

A Limerick-based GP who is also a medical examiner for Henry Street Garda Station, today denied that he whitewashed records for the gardaí.

Fingerprints belonging to one of seven men on trial for membership of the Continuity IRA were found on a note seized during a suspected meeting of dissident republicans, the Special Criminal Court has heard.

A senior garda today denied that gardai in Limerick "harassed" republicans because of the IRA killing of Detective Garda Jerry McCabe and the wounding of another garda in Limerick.

A detective garda who took part in a raid on a house in Limerick where a suspected Continuity IRA was taking place, made a number of errors in his witness statement, the Special Criminal Court heard today.

Fingerprint experts made additional marks on a note seized by gardai during a raid on a suspected Continuity IRA meeting in Limerick, a garda witness told the Special Criminal Court in Dublin today.

A Detective sergeant who took part in a Garda raid on a house in Limerick where a suspected Continuity IRA meeting was taking place has said he saw a number of men move from the front room as gardaí were breaking down the front door.

A Garda Chief Superintendent told the Special Criminal Court in Dublin today that people's lives would be at risk if he disclosed the sources of confidential information relating to one of seven men accused of membership of an unlawful organisation, the Continuity IRA.

The trial of seven men accused of membership of an unlawful organisation, the Continuity IRA, was halted at the Special Criminal Court in Dublin today to allow for the recall of one of the main prosecution witnesses.

A Garda Superintendent told the Special Criminal Court in Dublin today that a search warrant was issued for a house in Limerick city where seven men accused of membership of an illegal organisation were arrested after he briefed another senior garda officer in the city.

A Special Branch detective told the Special Criminal Court in Dublin today that he believed that Des Long, the vice president of Republican Sinn Fein, was carrying out an anti surveillance measure in driving a circuitous route through Limerick.

A detective sergeant today denied that he deliberately gave prejudicial evidence in the trial of seven men accused of membership of an illegal organisation, the Continuity IRA.

Eight men went on trial at the Special Criminal Court in Dublin today in the biggest trial yet in the State of suspected members of the dissident republican group, the Continuity IRA.

Six of the eight men arrested after a police swoop on a house in Limerick have been refused bail.