Camouflaged cocaine, updated MetroLink costs, and the Dáil returns from its summer recess

Plus: You’ve been sharing your horror clamping stories with us

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Computer generated images of Metrolink, the planned Dublin metro train running from Swords to Ranelagh
The MetroLink project is expected to cost somewhere between €14.5 billion and €17.5 billion

Crime gangs are disguising cocaine as coal, paper and treacle to smuggle it into the State and are changing the genetics of cannabis plants to circumvent Irish drugs laws, the head of Forensic Science Ireland (FSI) has said.

Updated cost projections for the MetroLink now estimate the project will cost somewhere between €14.5 billion and €17.5 billion. The Minister for Transport, Darragh O’Brien, will ask for Cabinet approval today to put the MetroLink project out to tender.

Meanwhile, the Dáil resumes after its summer recess. Our political editor Pat Leahy outlines some of the flashpoints to watch out for during the coming term.

After The Irish Times revealed last week that Dublin City Council is to overhaul the way it enforces parking, you’ve been sharing some of your horror experiences of being clamped.

Aideen Finnegan

Aideen Finnegan

Aideen Finnegan is an audio producer at The Irish Times

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