Crime « Thurles Information

Safety Fund 2025 Opens For Applications.

Proceeds of crime invested back into local communities.
Fund increases in size to €4 million.

The nationwide funding call for the Community Safety Fund 2025 is now open.

This annual fund allows for the proceeds of crime, seized by the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) and An Garda Síochána, to be directed into local projects to support and enhance community safety.

This year, €4 million is available, which is double the original allocation of €2 million when the fund first opened for applications in 2022, and grants range from €20,000 to €150,000.

The call for the Community Safety Fund is open for six weeks from today Monday April 7th, before closing on Friday May 16th next.

The Community Safety Fund will be managed by the newly established National Office for Community Safety within the Department of Justice.

The Fund:

Allows proceeds of crime to be directed into projects to support and enhance community safety
Ensures that the most appropriate proposals to improve community safety will access the funding they need
Allows best practice on community safety and youth justice to be shared with other partnerships and communities nationally as new proposals are developed
Benefits from the success of An Garda Síochána and the Criminal Assets Bureau in seizing the proceeds from criminal activity.

Projects that have previously benefited from the funding supported initiatives that:

Reduce the fear of crime; improve community safety and feelings of safety.
Support the creation of safe and resilient communities.
Reduce reoffending.
Divert vulnerable individuals away from engagement in criminal behaviour.

In 2024, over €3 million was allocated to projects nationwide. Themes from 2024 successful applicants included projects aimed at addressing anti-social behaviour, domestic violence, drug-related intimidation, social exclusion, youth programmes, prison post-release support.
Many of the projects focused on education, sport, recreation, and social interaction to proactively address safety concerns in communities.

Completed application forms must be returned by 5:00pm on Friday 16th May to CommunitySafetyFund@justice.ie
Supporting documentation, including the Application Form and Guidance Document are available HERE.

All documents must be downloadable.

Former Tipperary Native & Financial Advisor Jailed For Six Years.

A former Tipperary native and financial advisor now residing at Richmond Avenue, Dartry, Dublin 6, who lost around €2 million of property investors’ funds in unauthorised stock market transactions has been jailed for six years.

Aged 52 years Mr William Kiely appeared at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court earlier this year, but changed his plea to guilty on the 21st day of his trial. He pleaded guilty to three counts of dishonestly appropriating money from the accounts of Barrington Capital Ltd, between 2007 and 2010. Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that the theft involved $1.47 million and around €700,000.

Mr Kiely also pleaded guilty to knowingly carrying on the business of a company, (Barrington Capital Limited), with intent to defraud creditors between July 2008 and February 2010. He further pleaded guilty to falsifying a financial statement on March 12th, 2010.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that Mr Kiely set up a legitimate investment operation, the aforementioned Barrington Capital Ltd, to purchase commercial property in the United States of America. Following the 2008 global financial crash, he failed to return all of the money which had been intended to purchase property; instead and without investor authorisation used some of it on the stock market, which was unsuccessful.

Having heard the facts of the case on Friday last, Judge Elma Sheahan stated that Mr Kiely had a high degree of culpability; the financial losses they suffered and the impact on their emotional well-being were all aggravating factors in the case and the harm caused to the injured parties was truly significant. The court heard that much of the funds went towards lifestyle expenses unrelated to the business and Kiely had also paid himself an amount each month. Mr Kiely also falsified a financial statement back in March 2010, which set out expenses on the account and what was left, however, at this point the funds were completely depleted.

Mr Kiely received a six year jail sentence and has also been automatically disqualified from serving as a director of any company for five years.

Prison Officers Graduate At Ceremony In Dublin Castle.

The graduation of 123 Prison Officers took place yesterday at the Print Works, Dublin Castle.

The new officers have now completed their Higher Certificate of Arts in Custodial Care (HCCC), developed and delivered jointly by the Irish Prison Service and South East Technological University (SETU).

This graduating class form part of the Irish Prison Service’s latest recruitment drive. They have already been allocated tn prisons throughout the State, including the Operational Support Group and the Prison Service Escort Corp.

This week’s graduation ceremony marks the formal recognition of the new officers’ academic achievement.

Recognising the crucial role played by prison officers in delivering an important public service, President of SETU, Professor Veronica Campbell emphasised the need to provide a high standard of training and education to support them:- “In light of this, the Irish Prison Service and SETU have created a collaborative work-based programme that develops the reflective, theoretical and practical skills of the Recruit Prison Officer. With over 900 Recruit Prison Officers having successfully completed the programme since 2017, including the 123 graduates who were awarded a Higher Certificate of Arts in Custodial Care at Dublin Castle this evening, SETU’s partnership with the Irish Prison Service is a prime example of our connectivity with our region, firmly aligned with our strategic goals in the provision of educational experiences that are student centred and responsive to learner needs.
I extend my sincere congratulations to this year’s graduates on their academic achievements. This milestone is a testament to the hard work you have invested in earning your qualification.”

The Higher Certificate in Custodial Care is a two-year part-time programme designed to develop the professional competencies of Prison Service staff in working with prisoners. The HCCC is intended to facilitate a greater understanding of how officers can confront challenges through the exploration of different subjects including, Resilience, Mental Health, Social Psychology and Human Rights.

After initial training, RPOs are appropriated to a prison, with assignments based on the security and operational needs of each individual prison.

Tipperary Man Receives 10 Year Jail Sentence For Rape.

A Tipperary man has been jailed for 10 years, with a one-year post-release supervision order, for the rape of a female acquaintance whom he had collected from hospital, in the early hours of the morning.

The victim had been out socialising on the night in question and had fallen, before being conveyed to hospital by ambulance for observation.

Mr Padraic Troy, aged 29 years, of Golden Gardens, Dundrum Co. Tipperary, was convicted following a trial at the Central Criminal Court, of two counts of rape, anal rape and two sexual assaults of the woman back in 2021.

While at the hospital, the victim had telephoned several people, including contacting Mr Troy, seeking assistance. Mr Troy had arrived at the hospital after 3:00am, and she had accepted transport in his company and in the company of another male.

The first sexual assault by Mr Troy occurred while in the car. It was there that he began kissing her, leaving the victim feeling disgusted, while she impressed on him her willingness only to return home.
On returning home the victim was assisted inside. The second male left, leaving her on her own with Mr Troy, who then raped her, anally raped and sexually assaulted her in her bedroom.

On the following day, the victim reported on what had happened to the Gardaí, before being examined at a Sexual Assault Treatment Unit. A DNA profile matching Mr Troy was identified from her under garments.

Mr Troy, when interviewed later by Gardaí, claimed he had been involved in consensual sex only with the victim.

Passing sentence, Ms Justice Melanie Greally stated that the multiplicity of distinct violations and the degree of physical force used; the victims vulnerability at the time of the incident and the overall impact on the victim were among the most aggravating of the factors in the case.

Mr Troy already had 20 previous convictions; these included theft, public order offences, assault and road traffic offences.

The court also heard that the victim wished for Mr Troy to be publicly named, while the victim herself, wished to maintain her anonymity.

Ms Justice Greally wished the victim well for the future and expressed the court’s hope that her continued recovery, from this experience, would endure.

Government Approval Secured – Progressing Guardianship Rights.

The Irish Cabinet have granted approval to progress legislation to commence the drafting of legislation that will, in certain situations, remove guardianship rights from individuals convicted of killing their partner or the other parent of their child.

The issues around guardianship of children in a scenario where one parent or guardian kills the other, should not be regarded as a matter of private law between the families concerned but, instead, should be regarded as a child protection and welfare issue arising in the public law area.

The proposed legislation delivers on the Programme for Government commitment to “examine proposals to remove guardianship rights from those convicted of killing their partners or a parent of their child”. It is part of the ongoing work to implement appropriate recommendations from the Study on Familicide and Domestic and Family Violence Death Reviews.

This General Scheme of the Guardianship of Infants (Amendment) Bill 2025, which will be referred to the relevant Joint Oireachtas Committee for pre-legislative scrutiny, is intended to prevent vulnerable children from further trauma, to provide clarity for surviving family members, and to prevent perpetrators from maintaining control over these children’s lives.

The proposed legislation allows for an application to court within six months of the conviction of a parent or guardian of a child for murder or manslaughter of another parent or guardian of the child. On this application the court will make an order removing or confirming the convicted parent or guardian. The legislation will not be retrospective.

Following pre-legislative scrutiny, drafting of the Guardianship of Infants (Amendment) Bill 2025 along the lines of the General Scheme will commence.

Policing, Security and Community Safety Act 2024.

**Ms Emily Logan Ireland’s first Police Ombudsman**.

Meanwhile today, also saw the commencement of the landmark Policing, Security and Community Safety Act 2024.

The office holders, senior leaders, Board and Authority members to these new and reformed bodies will now formally take up their appointments and roles.

Today, President M.D. Higgins appointed Ms Emily Logan as Ireland’s first Police Ombudsman, nominated by the government, following an open competition undertaken by the Public Appointments Service.

The commencement of the Act follows the establishment of new Votes for the Policing and Community Safety Authority and Fiosrú – The Office of the Police Ombudsman on Tuesday. Dáil approval was required for the allocation of funds to the two bodies through a Revised Estimate and a motion was brought by the Minister before the Dáil, to approve the allocations.