Crime « Thurles Information

Legislation To Reform Family Courts System Passed.

The Family Courts Bill is a key element of the programme of reform to make family justice processes safer, cheaper, more efficient and less adversarial.
Judges to be assigned on a full-time basis to the Family Court divisions.
Best interests of the child will be a primary consideration in the conduct of all family law proceedings.

Today, November 7th, 2024, the Family Courts Bill 2022 passed through both Houses of the Oireachtas. Once enacted, the legislation will provide for the establishment of family court divisions within the existing court structures, a Family High Court, a Family Circuit Court, and a Family District Court.
Judges who have specialist training or experience in dealing with family law matters will be assigned to the Family Courts divisions on a full-time basis.

Key reforms contained in the Bill include:

The establishment of a Family Court as divisions within the existing court structures.
The assigning of judges on a full-time basis to the Family Court divisions – judges who, by reason of their training or experience, are suitable to deal with matters of family law.
The creation of new positions of Principal Judge of the Family High Court, Family Circuit Court, and Family District Court to ensure proper and effective management of these Courts.
A requirement for ongoing professional training in the area of family law for judges.
Allowing for joint applications to be made for judicial separation, divorce, and dissolution of civil partnership, and supporting mediation and alternative dispute resolution in such cases.
The setting out of guiding principles for the conduct of family law proceedings, which are directed at ensuring the best interests of the child are a primary consideration, encouraging mediation – where appropriate – and that as far as possible proceedings are accessible and user friendly.

The Bill also provides for a greater proportion of non-contentious family law matters to be dealt with at Family District Court level, in order to provide local access to the court system and to enable family law issues to be resolved in the simplest and most cost-efficient way, reducing the stress faced by litigants in such cases.

The Family Courts Bill is a key component in the ongoing implementation of the Family Justice Strategy, which is driving reforms to create a more efficient and user-friendly family justice system that puts the family and children at the centre of its work.

This includes:

Ensuring the voice of the child is heard in family law proceedings, in line with a child’s constitutional right, and developing new ways to ensure that this right is upheld. This includes an allocation of €3 million to develop a children’s Court Advocate Pilot Project, and a pilot scheme to fund welfare and voice of the child reports;
Supporting the Judiciary to develop a set of guidelines for the use of welfare reports in family law proceedings;
Reviewing training options across the family justice sector, identifying gaps and opportunities for new provisions;
Improving information provisions for all those accessing the system, including children and young people;
Developing options to provide alternatives to court, including the development of a set of child maintenance guidelines and expansion of the Family Mediation Service through the Legal Aid Board’s private panel of family mediators;
Commissioning research on the operation of the In Camera rule, a draft of which the Minister expects to receive shortly.

Inspectorate Report On Transnational Organised Crime Published.

Garda Inspectorate Report on Transnational Organised Crime published.

Report acknowledges success of An Garda Síochána in targeting organised crime.
Inspectorate makes a number of recommendations aimed at preventing transnational organised crime, tackling the crime groups that cause most harm in communities, and better supporting the victims of these crimes.

The Garda Síochána Inspectorate’s report – ‘Transnational Organised Crime – A Review of the Structures, Strategies and Processes in the Garda Síochána’, was published today, [Tuesday November 5th, 2024].

The report acknowledges the considerable success, by An Garda Síochána, in targeting high-profile crime groups and seizing large volumes of drugs and other criminal assets.
It also makes recommendations to An Garda Síochána;, the Department of Justice, and other agencies, to further address the threat posed and the impact of organised criminal networks.

The Department of Justice has taken a number of steps to support the work of An Garda Síochána in dealing with illegal drug use and organised crime. These include:

Increasing the maximum sentence for conspiracy to murder from 10 years to life in prison to tackle those who direct gangland and drug related crime;
Enacting new laws to criminalise the grooming of children into a life of crime;
Drafting new laws which will provide for the use of facial recognition technology in the investigation of certain drug offences;
Rolling out a support programme to break the link between the gangs and the children they try to recruit;
Signing treaties on extradition and mutual legal assistance with the United Arab Emirates to ensure that organised crime gangs can have no hiding place anywhere in the world.

An Garda Síochána is targeting those involved in street-level drug dealing across the country and disrupting and dismantling drug trafficking networks, through ‘Operation Tara‘.

The Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (GNDOCB) leads in tackling all forms of drug trafficking and the supply of illicit drugs in Ireland. Since 2019 the GNDOCB have seized approximately €390m worth of drugs, with further seizures this year.
Given the global nature of the drugs trade, international law enforcement co-operation is a critical element in the overall response.
Significant interceptions of controlled drugs in the last 12 months are a testament to the success of this co-operation.

Upon the commencement of the Policing, Security and Community Safety Act 2024, on December 16th the inspection functions of An Garda Síochána Inspectorate will be incorporated within the newly established Policing and Community Safety Authority (PCSA).

The report is available at ‘Garda Inspectorate Inspection Report on Transnational Organised Crime‘.

Could Climbing Hydrangeas Be Answer To Thurles Graffiti Issues?

***Hardly the work of Banksy, latter that pseudonymous England-based street artist and political activist, whose real name and identity remain, as yet, unconfirmed***.

The above 35.56 centimetre (14 inch) high, expletive / salutation has greeted the arrival and departure of those using the new Liberty Square / Slievenamon Road, car park, [aka ‘Checkpoint Charlie’], latter positioned just 20 metres from the Thurles Tourist Office, since June 2021.
It appeared prior to the removal of the money wasting, two year old Perspex coated, parking ticket shelter the costings of which remain a closely guarded secret, retained only by Municipal District wasting officialdom.

**Former eradicated Perspex coated, parking ticket shelter.**

One would have hoped that these two worded expletive could have been removed by Thurles Council, along with the two year old car parking barrier system, or even by the well-meaning ‘Refresh Thurles’ grouping, but, alas, it has gone unnoticed over the past 3.5 years, due to the everyday ‘hussle and bustle’ of a now struggling Thurles town centre market place.

Climbing Hydrangea (Hydrangea petiolaris).

Graffiti, seen by some as a form of visual communication, usually illegal, involving the unauthorized marking of public spaces by individuals or groups, has become a continuing problem here in Thurles and goes unchecked.
Could the planting of climbing Hydrangeas (Hydrangea petiolaris) be the answer to this wanton vandalism?

This charming, fully hardy, self-clinging, climber enjoys full sun to partial shade, but will still thrive even on a north facing wall.
In midsummer white lace-cap-style hydrangea flowers cover the plant, before the leaves turn slowly to yellow in autumn. Same grows best in a sheltered position in soils rich in organic matter, reaching some 3.048 metres (10 ft) – 6.96 metres (20 ft) in height.

Power Washing needed!

Plan To Address Barriers To Entry To Lgal Professions Published.

Plan to address barriers to entry to legal professions and early career progression published.

Plan identifies steps needed to widen and increase access to education, training, and career opportunities in the legal professions.
Relevant professional bodies and stakeholders will sit on the Implementation Plan Working Group.
LSRA will provide progress reports every 6 months.

A plan has been published to address the barriers facing many newly qualified and early career solicitors and barristers.

The Legal Services Regulatory Authority (LSRA) were asked to submit a plan to implement the recommendations of its Breaking Down Barriers Report.

This report, which was published in September, examined how a range of issues such as financial means, geography and professional connections can act as obstacles to progression for those studying or starting out in the legal professions.

The plan contains 32 recommendations, and the implementation process will be led by the CEO of the LSRA, who will also chair the Barriers Implementation Working Group.

Relevant professional bodies will be invited to nominate representatives to sit on the Working Group, which will hold quarterly progress update meetings with the legal professional bodies, the Law Society of Ireland, the Honourable Society of King’s Inns and the Bar of Ireland.

Dr Brian Doherty, Chief Executive Officer of the Legal Service Regulatory Authority said: “The LSRA very much looks forward to working with all relevant stakeholders with the common goal of building a more inclusive and diverse legal services sector. The recommendations made in the Breaking Down Barriers report represent an important reform initiative which will build upon measures introduced in recent years by key stakeholders, including the professional bodies for solicitors and barristers, the Law Society of Ireland, the Bar of Ireland and the Honorable Society of King’s Inns.”

The LSRA Breaking Down Barriers Implementation Plan can be accessed HERE.

Over 1,200 Drivers Caught Speeding On Irish Roads Since Thursday.

A Garda road safety operation, which began last Thursday, October 24th 2024, at 7:00am, detected more than 1,200 drivers speeding.

Among those observed speeding was a driver travelling at 167km/h in an 80km/h zone. Another driver was caught travelling at 157km/h in a 100km/h zone, while another was observed travelling at 88km/h in a 50km/h zone.

Also on Irish roads, over this same period three people were killed, bringing the total number of road deaths, so far this year to 147.

Adding to these obvious dangers, this weekend’s Garda operation, arrested 158 drivers on suspicion of driving while intoxicated by alcohol and drugs.
This is bourne out by the fact that yesterday a learner driver aged in his 20s, while holding no insurance was caught driving at 170km/h in a 120km/h zone. The offender tested positive for drugs on the roadside, before being arrested and charged with dangerous driving.

Gardaí are appealing, yet again, for all road users to slow down, especially in recognition of the fact we are presently experiencing colder, wetter and darker evenings in the season ahead.

Gardaí have described this driving behaviour by motorists, as making deliberate and conscious decisions to do so; thus showing little regard for their own lives, the lives of passengers and other road users.

Gardaí are appealed for all road users to slow down, especially in recognition of the fact Ireland is presently experiencing colder, wetter and darker evenings into the Xmas season ahead.