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 New Circuit Court Judge Mr G. O’Brien Thurles residents wish to join in congratulating the State Solicitor for North Tipperary, Mr Gerard O’Brien on his recent appointment as a Judge of the Circuit Court.
The Thurles native, who recently celebrated his 50th birthday, has also publicly confirmed his new appointment and it is understood that he will possibly take up his new post beginning in the Dublin District Court area.
Mr O’Brien who worked initially as a schoolteacher in Dublin, also served successfully as a Fianna Fáil member of Thurles Town Council for a brief period before retiring.
Having qualified with a law degree, he has worked for some years as a solicitor in his Thurles based firm of Gerard O’Brien Solicitors, latter which he established in 2006.
Six years later, in 2012, Mr O’Brien was appointed State Solicitor for North Tipperary, prior to this, his most recent appointment as a Judge of the Circuit Court.
Despite being the victim of a handicap caused by the drug Thalidomide, which resulted with him being born with no upper limbs and one lower limb, his always cheerful witty disposition, integrity, compassion, understanding, unquestionable ability and his total outright rejection of his very own personal physical handicap, leaves his many friends and those of his acquaintance, truly humbled by his numerous outstanding achievements to date.
Widely travelled, a lover of almost all music genre and a director of the Cathedral of The Assumption Youth Choir, Mr O’Brien was also the founder of the current and very successful youth musical theatre group Phoenix Productions, latter both based here in Thurles, Co Tipperary.
Very few, if any, Thurles residents are therefore surprised by Mr O’Brien’s latest elevation and he is sincerely wished every continued success in this his most recent appointment.
To adults and their offspring’s seeking a suitable roll-model, congratulations your search is now complete.
 A bomb threat was made against the offices of the Environment Minister, Mr Alan Kelly, here in Tipperary this morning.
Minister Kelly is tasked with overseeing ‘Irish Water,’ yet another mismanaged “banana skin to slip on” left behind by the exit of Fine Gael Minister Phil Hogan to Europe.
It is understood that the bomb threat was made to Mr Kelly’s constituency office, latter situated in Nenagh, Co Tipperary, earlier this morning.
Through a spokesperson for Mr Kelly, Labour’s Junior Minister Aodhan O’Riordain, has confirmed that a member of staff in Mr Kelly’s Nenagh office was extremely upset, having receiving this anonymous telephone communication. It is understood Gardaí have been notified with regard to this rather unsavoury communication.
Meanwhile, protesters have gathered in neighbouring Limerick at an event involving the Minister for Finance, Mr Michael Noonan. The crowd have been chanting anti-water charge slogans and Gardaí and plain clothes detectives have been drafted into the area to ensure that the protest remains peaceful.
In another incident, Gardaí in West Cork are forensically investigating the burning of two Irish Water vans over the weekend. The believed malicious incident happened in the early hours of yesterday morning. Gardaí in Bantry confirm that both Renault vans were the property of a contractor working for Irish Water.
A new Garda Inspector, named as Mr Oliver Henry, has just been appointed to the town of Roscrea, Co Tipperary.
This initiative by Garda authorities follows a huge public demonstration in the town back in July, when hundreds of frustrated local people took to the streets to protest over what they saw was a weak concern over drug problems and anti-social behaviour within the town and its immediate environs.
A devastating effects of drugs and anti-social behaviour had prompted a major community response, expressing fears of an emerging drugs culture which was claiming many young lives in a town, like so many in Tipperary hit by large scale unemployment in recent years.
This new appointment of Mr Oliver Henry to the rank of Inspector also follows claims in recent months that the local Roscrea Garda Station was being considered for possible future downgrading.
News of this latest appointment was detailed by local resident and founder of the “Roscrea Stands Up” group, Mr Derek Russell, at the annual general meeting of the Roscrea Community Development Council (RCDC) following their most recent meeting in the Abbey Hall, in Roscrea.
A previous heated meeting held on the night of Monday July 28th last, in the Abbey Hall in Roscrea, had escalated into an impromptu march to the local Garda station, bringing the town to a standstill for over an hour.
 An ongoing spate of burglaries here in Thurles over the past few months and highlighted by Thurles.Info, continues with no sign to date of the criminals responsible being detected.
Recently two houses in Thurles; one in the Borroway area and another in the Kennedy park area have been broken into twice, within a short space of time. In the Collins Park area, within the past few days, we have received news that one house; vacated for less than half an hour; the occupants returned to discover serious damage caused to the exterior of their property, in an attempted break-in.
The situation has now become even more serious with the manifestation of a new Face Book Page being opened, entitled ‘Thurles Equalizer,‘ which threatens to assert the need for a type of vigilante justice; threatening to punish Thurles lawbreakers personally rather than relying on our legal authorities. Many people locally will indeed sympathise with their promised convictions; “Any information about these scumbags breaking into elderly people’s houses and terrorising them, will be never be shared with anyone not even the Gardaí. We are not interested in a court date or slaps on wrists. PM us pls.”
While many locals are calling for a public meeting on the lines of action recently taken by Roscrea residents; local active Fianna Fáil Councillor Seamus Hanafin has been speaking to some of our other councillors in town and they have now agreed to come together in a cross party alliance on this issue. We understand that contact with the Gardaí has been arranged and a meeting between the local Councillors, Senior Garda, Crime Prevention Officers and Community Gardaí is now imminent.
Increases in rural crime, especially by out of town criminals, plus the reduction in our rural Garda force, has severely hampered investigations into local crime detection countrywide despite the best efforts of Gardaí particularly in rural areas.
The reluctance recently by many of our residents to attend local ‘Neighbourhood Watch,’ meetings, despite the strong invitation by Thurles Gardaí to do so, has given further encouragement to these criminals now operating within our midst.
 Cannabis Sativa Three men, believed to be in their early 20’s, have been arrested following a drugs haul in Roscrea, Co Tipperary. While Gardaí refused to comment on the arrests, all three men detained are understood to be natives of the area.
We understand that the haul was discovered at approximately 11.50pm on Friday evening last, (Sept 19th), in the area of the Grove Motors car park on the Birr road leading out of the town. We understand that an alert member of the Garda force, on routine patrol, observed two cars parked in what were described as ‘suspiciously circumstances.’
On approaching the vehicles, the Garda is understood to have observed packages being discarded from a passenger window of one of the parked vehicles. On examination an estimated €4,500 worth of cannabis was discovered to be contained in the abandoned packages.
It is understood that two men were arrested at the scene and a third man was arrested the following day, in relation to this offence. We also understand that all three have now been charged under the possession of drugs and possession of drugs for the purposes of sale and supply.
Note: Anyone found guilty of this offence is liable to a Class C fine on summary conviction in a District Court. If the court decides, he or she could be subject to a fine and a prison term not exceeding 12 months. On conviction on indictment for this offence, the court can decide on an appropriate fine. The court can also impose a life sentence for this offence if it decides it is necessary. However, lesser sentences can also be imposed, either with a fine or alone.
Where the market value of the drugs is €13,000 or more, the person convicted is liable for a minimum sentence of 10 years. Similar penalties apply to someone convicted of importing drugs with a value of €13,000 or more.
Meanwhile Naval Service, Customs and the Gardaí have foiled a major drug smuggling operation when they detained a yacht with up to €80 million worth of cocaine off the south west coast of Ireland in the early hours of this morning.
The Joint Task Force operation involved the LÉ Roisin and the LÉ Niamh detaining an 18.9 metre yacht ‘Makayabella’, carrying an estimated one tonne of cocaine on board, at around 3.00am this morning some 250 miles off Ireland’s Mizen Head in West Cork.
The ‘Mayakabella’ is expected to arrive at 9.00pm at the Naval Base at Haulbowline in Cork Harbour, where it will be forensically examined.
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