Conor Lally

1 week ago | irishtimes.com | Conor Lally

A drone carrying a pipe bomb crashed at a house in a north Dublin suburb on Monday evening. The drone was being flown by one criminal faction to target another when the intended attack went wrong. Detectives believe the pipe bomb, a viable explosive device, was to be detonated by hitting the ground at the intended target’s home in Finglas after being dropped from the drone mid-flight.

1 week ago | irishtimes.com | Conor Lally

Gardaí have arrested a juvenile after an assault in a playground in Co Wexford resulted in another teenager being hospitalised. The incident initially involved a number of teenagers, though the element of that attack that resulted in the arrest involved one boy in his early teens. The victim, also a teenager, suffered non-life-threatening injuries in the incident, during which a weapon was used. The attack took place at a playground on the promenade in Enniscorthy on Saturday afternoon.

1 week ago | irishtimes.com | Conor Lally

Gardaí have identified 1,600 people linked to an international gang specialising in fraud and money laundering in the Republic, including 100 members responsible for its direction. Though the amount of money confirmed stolen and laundered by the Black Axe gang in Ireland has now reached almost €100 million, gardaí believe the true figure is much higher.

1 week ago | irishtimes.com | Conor Lally

A doubling in the number of prisoners being released early, leading to allegations of a “revolving door” system, has been defended by the head of the Irish Prison Service. Caron McCaffrey, the director general of the service, said the early releases were done in a controlled manner, with supports in place for those set free early. The number of prisoners currently on so-called temporary release – meaning they have been freed early and are not obliged to return to jail – is 595.

1 week ago | irishtimes.com | Conor Lally

The Republic is “probably sending too many people to prison”, which is exacerbating overcrowding, Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan has said. The Minister has also promised prison officers that electronic tagging of prisoners would be in place by the end of the year, which he believes would reduce pressure in . It was “embarrassing on the part of the legislature” that tagging had not been rolled out despite the legislation providing for it having been enacted in 2007.