The Taoiseach has given his full backing to the Garda Commissioner Noirin O'Sullivan - but doesn't believe emergency powers are needed to tackle the gangland threat.

Noirin O'Sullivan has been backed by all the major parties on Day 8 of the general election campaign, which is again dominated by crime.

But other parties have again turned on Sinn Féin over its plans to scrap Ireland's anti-terror laws.

Fianna Fail's justice spokesman Niall Collins described the party as a 'cult' - and questioned its stance on scrapping the Special Criminal Court.

However Sinn Féin's Pearse Doherty says not only is the 'cult' description wrong, but an insult to those people who have voted for Sinn Féin in the past and planned to do so again this time.

Our political correspondent Gavan Reilly reports.