Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has described the investigation into an alleged paedophile ring in Dublin as a ‘very disturbing and worrying matter’.

The Taoiseach has dismissed media reports which he claimed suggested that all teenagers were addicted to drink or drugs. Bertie Ahern told the Dáil that just because a 14-year-old tried one cigarette or one drink, it did not make them an alcoholic or a smoker.

Children with special needs are being forced to wait almost two years to be assessed by educational psychologists at a cash-strapped schools board. New figures reveal children are enduring extraordinary waits to have their needs assessed by experts at the South Eastern Education and Library Board.

A major suicide awareness rally will today aim to harness co-operation from various state agencies and voluntary groups. The event at Dublin’s Mansion House is being organised by the Turn the Tide of Suicide group which has called for more research, education and intervention to lower the death rate.

Nursing home owners are calling on the Health Service Executive to halt routine inspections of their premises pending improvements in the way standards are assessed.

Calls for Megan’s Law to be implemented in Northern Ireland “as a matter of priority” have been made by the Rape Crisis Centre after the latest alert over a missing sex offender.

An investigation has been launched into claims that a group of seven English schoolchildren on a youth club trip to Northern Ireland was abandoned last week in the Co Down countryside.

The NSPCC has called for urgent action to support Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services in Northern Ireland. This news comes as the charity, which runs ChildLine, has revealed that some young children attempted suicide while trying to contact the helpline.

A high-risk sex offender who has been missing since last week, has been detained by police in Garvagh, County Londonderry. Robert Wallace, 78, who was residing in Belfast had not been seen since Thursday morning, despite attempts to locate him.

A new study due to be published by the Government tomorrow is reportedly set to highlight alarming levels of drug use among Irish schoolgirls.