6 Irish children were among the number of children trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation last year.

While great strides have been made in the area of the trafficking of separated children in the asylum process it remains a problem in Ireland.

A new report has been commissioned by the Children’s Rights Alliance.

It was carried out by University College Cork and has been examining the state’s response to the problem of child trafficking in Ireland.

The Children’s Rights Alliance says the secretive nature of trafficking makes it very hard to quantify.

But they say in the last year 6 Irish children were among those found to have been trafficked.

Gardaí in Dublin are continuing to question 2 men in connection with the death of a man in Ballymun in the early hours of this morning.

The victim has been named locally as Jason Flannery.

He was a father-of-3 aged in his 30s.

He was stabbed to death outside a house on St. Joseph’s Way following a dispute.

3 other people were injured – 2 men and a woman.

They are being treated at the Mater Hospital.

The scene has been sealed off for a forensic examination and Gardaí will carry out door to door inquiries.

Local priest Father Gerry French says Ballymun has undergone a significant regeneration.

He is urging locals not be disheartened by the violence.

“Do not be afraid, take courage” he said.

“I think to regard this as a one-off and not to be disappointed”.

“And not to be afraid to use the Ballymun address because it has bad associations”.

“What I would love (is for) people to take heart” he added.

The Finance Minister says an auction of short-term Treasury bonds this morning was “an excellent result” for Ireland.

The NTMA wanted to raise €500 million on a 3-month term.

The markets were keen to lend the money with it being subscribed 3 times and at a yield of 0.7%

That is down from the 1.8% yield on a similar auction in July.

14 people are still in garda custody following a series of raids this morning targeting dissident republican activity in counties Dublin, Meath and Kildare.

The 13 men and 1 woman were arrested under Operation Ambience involving around 200 officers from the Special Detective Unit, the Emergency Response Unit, Local Detectives, Uniformed Gardai and the Dog Unit.

The investigation was launched after a volley of shots was fired over the coffin of Alan Ryan – a leading member of the Real IRA – at his funeral in Dublin last Saturday.

Almost 800 jobs are to go in Northern Ireland.

Engineering firm FG Wilson is to move its main generator production line to China.

Newstalk’s Jack Quann has more.