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Polish gardai The police in Ireland and Northern Ireland have started recruiting Polish policemen. Together with nurses, builders and bankers, it’s the next most wanted group in the Emerald Isle. According to statistics, police officers are leaving their jobs in considerable numbers in Poland. Report by Iwona Lejman 21.09.06 The Evening Herald in Belfast has just printed job ads in Polish to fill vacancies in the Northern Ireland police. Poles are also being targeted to fill posts in the Republic of Ireland. Over a thousand people are needed. A good command of English is a must, however, they are not...

O'Toole resigns after two years to take position with Irish Government. Developing...

Imminent Ulster car bomb attack foiled by police (Filed: 19/04/2006) Police in Northern Ireland have seized 250lb of home-made explosives, foiling a potentially devastating car bomb attack. Local youths threw petrol bombs at police after the raid A senior policeman said those behind the plot - likely to be dissident republicans - planned to explode the device "as soon as possible". Four men were arrested during the raid on a breaker's yard in Lurgan, Co Armagh. A car was also taken away for forensic examination. Superintendent Alan Todd, Lurgan's police commander, said the police had no knowledge of a specific...

He is not a criminal, says Adams Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams yesterday stood by alleged former IRA chief Thomas "Slab" Murphy. The businessman, whose farm is at the centre of a police probe into a multi-million pound smuggling operation, has been wrongly demonised, he claimed. Mr Adams said: "Tom Murphy is not a criminal. He is a good republican." Murphy's sprawling estate, straddling the Irish border, was among 15 properties searched yesterday during police raids planned in Belfast and Dublin. Around £200,000 in cash, 30,000 cigarettes, 8,000 litres of fuel and weapons were all seized in the offensive against...

Around 300 protestors, who opposed the planned loyalist 'Love Ulster' march, have clashed with gardaí in Dublin city centre. Rocks, bottles, planks of wood and firecrackers were thrown as gardaí, photographers and journalists came under attack. The Garda Riot Squad are still in attendance and a total of 37 people have been arrested. They are being held at Store Street and Pearse Street garda stations. Fourteen people, including six gardaí, have been injured and are being treated in hospital. Skirmishes were reported on O'Connell Bridge and Aston Quay and there was a stand-off for a time on Fleet Street. Loyalist...

IRA in link to £70m property empire Garda specialist units seize documents in series of raids By Tom Brady 01 February 2006 An IRA link to a massive £70m-plus property empire in the Republic is being investigated by several Garda specialist units. A series of raids on businesses, houses and the offices of professional advisers has been carried out in four counties in the past week. A huge dossier of documentation, seized in the searches which began a week ago and ended yesterday, will now be analysed to establish if any of the businesses were used to launder IRA monies....

Police officers in New York shocked by the lack of protection for gardaí are offering to send over their spare anti-stab vests. The issue came to the forefront in July after two young gardaí were stabbed, one critically, when they entered a house in Raheny in Dublin. The offer of anti-stab vests has been made by the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association (PBA), which represents 27,000 officers in the New York Police Department (NYPD). In a letter to the Garda Representative Association (GRA), its president Patrick Lynch said he had been saddened to learn of the stabbing of the two gardaí. "I...

HERE was a large turnout yesterday at the first ever open day in An Garda Síochána for ethnic minorities. People from a host of nationalities and minorities travelled to the Garda College in Templemore for a sample of a possible career in the force. Gardaí were very impressed by the level of interest and the number of inquiries from people from ethnic minorities regarding the new recruitment phase. The new campaign, adverts for which began appearing this week, is specifically aimed at attracting non-Irish members into the force. Justice Minister Michael McDowell received approval from the Cabinet at the beginning...

The brutal murder of a 26-year-old Sligo man has led to speculation that the country town is fast becoming a crime capital. Cróna Esler investigates. When Hughie McGinley was shot on Grattan Street in Sligo on Thursday April 28, it wasn’t a simple mistake or an argument that got out of control. His assailant was not merely trying to teach him a lesson and he was not the victim of a practical joke that got out of hand. When Hughie was shot, his attacker had only one thing in mind…he wanted to kill the 26-year-old Sligo man. Hughie McGinley was...

The human rights group, Amnesty International, has called for an independent inquiry into the circumstances surrounding this morning's attempted robbery in Lusk, Co Dublin. Two men were shot dead after Gardaí engaged armed raiders during the attempted robbery at a post office. The men have been named as 33-year-old Colm Griffin from Canon Lillis Avenue in Dublin and 24-year-old Eric Hopkins from Lower Rutland Street in Dublin. It is believed the men arrived at the scene just after 8am in stolen cars with false number plates. Gardaí had had the post office under surveillance. It is understood the men were...