Four Irish companies are supplying components to the Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) biggest arms supplier, according to shipping records uncovered by The Ditch.

Lobbyists looking to deregulate Ireland's housing market so homeowners can build de facto sheds in their gardens without planning permission were offered a meeting with senior government advisers less than 24 hours after sending an introductory email to Micheál Martin.

Internal documents from a lobbying group representing international arms manufacturers reveal plans to target politicians, influence policymakers, and place articles in the media – despite acknowledging the Irish public is not interested in greater spending on arms.

The alleged garda informant who killed law student Shane O’Farrell was convicted of cigarette smuggling in 2007 – The Ditch can reveal – despite previous state probes of the case wrongly finding his first conviction was for theft in 2010.

An Garda Síochána concealed a conviction of a suspected garda informant – received months before he killed cyclist Shane O’Farrell in 2011 – which contradicts the state’s version of the tragic case.