Crime - Thurles Information

166 New Members Join An Garda Síochána.

Yesterday morning, 166 new members joined the Irish Garda Síochána police force.

Intake No 233, having commenced their training on July 31st, 2023, have now completed their Phase 1, Stage 3 training at the Garda Training College, situated in Templemore, Co. Tipperary, and have taken their Oath.

Attestation Oath
“I hereby solemnly and sincerely declare before God [Words “before God” may be omitted from the declaration at the request of the declarant] that:-
* I will faithfully discharge the duties of a member of the Garda Síochána with fairness, integrity, regard for human rights, diligence and impartiality, upholding the Constitution and the laws and according equal respect to all people.
* While I continue to be a member, I will, to the best of my skill and knowledge, discharge all my duties according to law.
* I do not belong to, and will not while I remain a member form, belong to or subscribe to, any political party or secret society whatsoever”.

The Garda “Attestation Oath”, above, is sworn by all members of An Garda Siochana and the Garda Reserve.

Congratulations to all.

Drugs Valued €18,000 Seized In North Tipperary.

Last St Patrick’s weekend, drugs with a value at some €18,000 were seized in the Borrisokane area of North Co. Tipperary.

The drugs; suspected herbal cannabis, were located following a search operation by Gardaí that took place on the afternoon of Saturday, March 16th last.

We understand that Gardaí have also arrested a man, aged in his 40s in connection with the seizure.

The, as yet, unnamed offender has since been charged and is expected to appear before a sitting of Co. Tipperary’s Nenagh District Court.

Thurles News Summary – March 20th 2024.

Thurles Town News In Brief.

Thurles.Info’s ‘eye in the sky’ sent back some rather disturbing images this morning. The first issue was the wanton destruction, by some ‘uncouth barbarians’, of public bench-seating, situated in the Cabragh-Ballycurrane area, close to the now redundant old Sugar Factory and closer still to the Thurles Top Oil Depot, on Route 659, south west of Thurles town.

Over this St Patrick’s weekend, vandals struck, severely damaging community seating, which had a wheelchair accessible plinth (rectangular block base).

**Public bench-seating in Thurles destroyed in an act of vandalism.**

As locals are probably aware, this facility, over the years, was been widely used by both young, old and infirmed, e.g. those attending the Thurles Rehab Care Resource Centre, and in more recent times the Ukrainian Refugees, based at the old Sugar Factory, on Cabra Road.

This bench-seating plinth, was put in place, and paid for, some years ago by the local residents association in conjunction with Thurles Lions Club. This weekend was the first time that it was vandalised and sprayed with paint.

Hopefully our local authority will see the benefit in rushing out, to undertake necessary repairs to this community seating.

Our second image demonstrates a failure brought about, once again, by Tipperary Co. Council’s failure to employ qualified engineers.
The picture, immediately above, shows yet another bent signpost, adding to the very large number of other bent and misleading signposts, stretched right across the town, being ignored for years.

The third picture, however, was the most upsetting personally for me. You will remember I broke the news that Thurles were in the lead to win 5 national awards in the “National Pothole Awards Competition”.

Sadly, this act carried out at 10:45 Greenwich Mean Time, this morning, will, I greatly fear, put an end to any hope of our 5 awards, as promised.

**Yet Another Three Day, Single, Crater Filling, Exercise**.

As you can see from the image above, our ‘Eye in the Sky’ caught a glimps of a JCB attempting, for the second time in just 6 days, to fill the same single pothole on Kickham Street, Dublin Road, Thurles.
Thankfully, none of the other 48 craters were filled in, so I suppose we should be grateful to the town’s Administrator, her local Engineer and the Chief Executive of the County Council.

One nearby neighbour, in an effort to remove my frustration and my down cast fizzog, said that the new crater filling, put in place this morning, should be gone again, over the next two days, and hopefully long before the adjudicators reach their expected final decisions. (So least said in case judges are out and about).
Luckily the JCB operator left the filling to exiting traffic, to put pressure on the craters filling, in the knowledge that he would be back again on Friday or Monday, at the latest.

It’s a funny country, our little Ireland; we give out about the cost of medical health issues and funds spent by the HSE, yet we ignore, completely, the sheer waste of taxpayer money spent at Local Government and Municipal District Council level.

Man Charged With Assault On Couple In Co. Kerry.

A 41-year-old male, named as Mr Edward O’Shea, with an address at St John’s Park, Castleisland, Co. Kerry, has appeared before Killarney District Court charged with assault causing harm to a male and female, together with aggravated burglary and the production of a device in the course of a dispute, on Monday March 11th last.

The woman involved, aged in her 30s, was removed to University Hospital Kerry for treatment for stab wounds, which are not believed to be life-threatening.

The court was informed that all three persons; both the accused and the injured couple, were known to each other.

The accused, Mr O’Shea, who appeared before Mr Justice David Waters, made no reply to the charges against him, however, Gardaí made no objection to bail.

Granting bail, Mr Justice Waters set down strict conditions. Mr O’Shea is to reside at an address at Village Road, Kilcommon Cross, Thurles, Co Tipperary and must sign on at Thurles Garda Station at weekends (Saturday and on Sunday). He is also not to enter Castleisland and he must have no contact, either direct or indirect, with witnesses or the injured parties. He must also be contactable by Gardaí at all times on his mobile phone.
The matter will be forwarded for directions from the DPP to decide on jurisdiction.

Decision To Increase Retirement Age Of Gardaí, Defence Forces & Prison Staff Approved.

Retirement age of An Garda Síochána to increase from 60 to 62 years.
Extension will further support An Garda Síochána with the resources they need.
Additional measures to support recruitment into uniformed services to be considered.
Total gross allocation for Garda force in 2024 is €2.31 billion, an increase of over €172 million on 2023, the highest ever Garda Budget.
The next intake to the Garda College in Templemore, Co. Tipperary is scheduled for April 8th 2024.
Another 174 Garda Members are due to attest on March 22nd 2024.
Since 2020 approval has been granted for over 150 retirement extensions for Garda members, at the request of the Garda Commissioner; to work beyond the age of 60.

The Minister for Justice, Mrs Helen McEntee T.D, along with An Tánaiste and Minister for Defence Mr Micheál Martin TD and the Minister for Public Expenditure Mr Paschal Donohoe T.D. have received Government approval to increase the mandatory retirement age in An Garda Síochána, the Defence Forces and the Irish Prison Service.

The increased mandatory retirement age in the uniformed services will be facilitated by amendments to the relevant pension legislation, to be brought forward by Minister Donohoe.

Speaking today, Minister McEntee said: “This increase in the mandatory retirement age from 60 to 62 is just one measure I am taking to support An Garda Síochána, as this Government demonstrates its determination to build stronger, safer communities.
We know a strong An Garda Síochána is central to that and in order to keep it strong, it is important that we retain the knowledge and expertise of experienced people where possible. In addition, increasing the mandatory retirement age reflects the reality across all sectors that people can and want to work in their chosen careers for longer.
We are immensely grateful to our Gardaí and Prison Officers for their outstanding dedication and commitment to serving the public and for the vital role that they play in keeping people safe.
I will continue to engage with Minister Donohue and the Tánaiste over the coming weeks to support this legislation and we will continue to explore any additional measures to support recruitment into An Garda Síochána and all our uniformed services”.

Both Minister McEntee and the Garda Commissioner have agreed that An Garda Síochána should grow to 15,000 and beyond. To reach that target, the government will continue to consider all additional measures to progress and enhance recruitment over the coming months.

Yesterday’s decision follows from other recent changes introduced to ensure that An Garda Síochána have the resources they need to keep people safe. This includes a record Budget allocation of over €2.35 billion, increasing the maximum age of entry to 50 and boosting the training allowance by 66% to €305 per week. This year’s Garda recruitment competition also received almost 6,400 applications, a significant increase on the 5,000 applications last year.

At present, retirement of members of An Garda Síochána is governed by law, which sets the mandatory retirement age for all members at 60 years of age.