Four out of 10 girls and one in five boys are victims of rape and/or sexual assault, but only one in 10 victims report the crime

FOR the sake of balance and cool heads, let's try and wrap the garda rape joke controversy in as much benevolent spin as possible.

Excerpts from the as the yet-to-be authenticated, inadvertent recording of a conversation in a garda car include "we'll get immigration f***ing on her", and "she was living down at crusty camp, f**k sake, you never know what you might get".

A REMOTE windswept corner of Co Mayo seems an unlikely setting for a 15-year battle to bring natural gas ashore.

But the Corrib Gas project has been mired in controversy almost from the day that the gas was discovered 83km off the coast in 1996.

Angry locals farmers worried about explosions beside their homes as the gas was brought ashore. A battling schoolteacher and so-called 'eco-warriors' all lined up against global oil and energy giant Shell.

A SENIOR Garda has been appointed to investigate a disturbing incident caught on camera involving two women who were arrested during a Corrib gas protest.

The two women were arrested but were later released without charge. A file is being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.

It appears that a video camera, carried by one of the women and confiscated by gardai, was left on and recorded exchanges between several gardai in the vehicle.