More than 300 personal artefacts from the ill-fated Titanic are to go on public display as part of a major new exhibition, it was revealed tonight.

The Government is denying cutting public servants pay is a prelude to slashing the minimum wage.

The heart was ripped out of an entire village by the death of a young garda who was killed after a car ploughed into his patrol, his State funeral heard today.

A woman has been killed in a road accident in Co Sligo.

A four-year-old drinking water alert affecting some 30,000 residents of Co. Clare has finally been lifted.

A 15-year-old boy accused of unlawful carnal knowledge of a 14-year-old girl has begun a High Court challenge to the law on the grounds of gender discrimination.

Six African hunting dog pups and a giraffe calf formally introduced their special Christmas arrivals to the public today.

The Taoiseach is being accused of blocking a major 9-11 style inquiry into the banking system because "it'll expose the close links to Fianna Fáil".

Hundreds of people have turned out in Fenagh in Co Leitrim this afternoon to pay their final respects to Garda Gary Mc Loughlin.

One person has been critically injured in a traffic accident in Sligo.

Fianna Fáil has selected former senator Paschal Mooney as its candidate for the forthcoming Seanad by-election.

Angry unions tonight accused the Government of crashing social partnership and torching the wreckage with savage Budget cuts.

A third inquiry into clerical child sex abuse by Catholic priests will run until next summer, it was revealed tonight.

The Finance Minister Brian Lenihan has ruled out exempting low paid public servants from pay cuts.

A jury in the trial of a Dublin man charged with murder were sent to a hotel for the night after failing to reach a verdict, at the Central Criminal Court today.

Hundreds of civil servants are protesting outside the Dáil at the introduction of legislation this evening which will cut their pay by up to 15%.

Five men were being questioned by orgainsed crime detectives tonight after gardaí foiled a suspected gangland hit.

The jury in a murder trial at the Central Criminal Court has been shown the blood-stained carpet from the accused man's bedroom.

The Court of Criminal Appeal has dismissed a Dublin man's bid to have his appeal against his conviction for IRA membership heard by the Supreme Court.

The Court of Criminal Appeal has today reduced the sentence imposed on an actor convicted of having ten stun guns without a firearms certificate.