A 15-year-old boy has been sentenced to six months’ detention for offences across Tipperary, Limerick and Clare, including stealing a vehicle and petrol from a service station in Cahir, Tipperary.
The teenager admitted unlawfully taking a vehicle from Woodview Service Station in Lisava, Cahir, on December 1st 2024. He also pleaded guilty to stealing €25.96 worth of petrol from the same premises that day.
At Ennis District Court, he pleaded guilty to seven car thefts, one attempted car theft, stealing a bicycle and stealing petrol. Videos posted on TikTok and Snapchat helped Gardaí identify him in connection with several offences.
Appearing by video link from Oberstown, the teenager received six-month sentences to run concurrently with each other and with the sentence he is already serving.
Mr Justice Adrian Harris acknowledged positive engagement with probation services while in detention, but warned that further offending would result in less leniency.
Content warning: Allegations of child physical and sexual abuse.
Canon Mr William George “Billy” Neely held a respected position within the Protestant Church. Within the Church of Ireland, he served as secretary and convenor of the Church of Ireland Historical Society (COIHS), co-edited church-history publications and was commemorated through a postgraduate prize bearing his name.
Yet accounts from men who say Mr Neely abused them as children raise serious questions about his then continued ministry, the response of Church authorities and how his reputation was subsequently preserved.
On September 29th 2022, Thurles.info reported findings from a BBC Spotlight investigation by Mr Conor Spackman and Ms Pippa Cooke. It identified Kilcooley, Gortnahoe, Thurles, Co. Tipperary, as the parish to which Mr Neely moved in 1976, after allegations of child sexual abuse arose during his ministry at Mount Merrion in east Belfast, Northern Ireland. The report described approximately ten years of ministry at Mount Merrion. It placed Kilcooley within the dioceses of Cashel, Ferns and Ossory and associated its parish grouping with Littleton, Crohane and Johnstown.
According to the investigation, the Scout Association told the BBC that it became aware of inappropriate behaviour by Mr Neely in 1977, confirmed by the then Bishop of Down and Dromore, Mr George Quin. In October 1977, it removed Neely as a volunteer leader and took steps to prevent him from rejoining.
Despite that exclusion, the BBC found that Mr Neely continued to have access to children in his Tipperary parish through Sunday school and visits to a local school. The allegations concerned beatings of boys for sexual gratification.
The 2022 report also recorded the Church’s position at that time; it declined further comment because of ongoing legal proceedings. The PSNI said it had no records of allegations made to the RUC during the 1970s. That statement concerns the records available to police; it does not establish that nobody raised concerns.
Mr Neely returned to Northern Ireland in the 1980s, serving in Keady, County Armagh, and subsequently again held the title of Canon. He died in 2009 and was interred in the grounds of St Patrick’s Church of Ireland Cathedral, Armagh.
Further testimony appeared in a BBC report dated as recent as June13th of this year, 2026. Mr Francis Bostrom, a former Mount Merrion, Belfast, chorister, said Mr Neely began abusing him in 1971, when he was 14 years old, and in receipt of tuition for his O-levels.
Mr Bostrom described repeated beatings, being required to undress and instructions to keep the punishment secret from his family. He said he believed the abuse was sexual. The BBC reported that he had initiated legal proceedings against the Church of Ireland.
Retired Canon Dr Jonathan Barry told the BBC that two women brought serious allegations concerning Mr Neely to him around 1976. He said he advised them to contact both Church authorities and police. Canon Barry criticised Mr Neely’s subsequent placement in the Tipperary parish, where he could continue encountering children.
In its response to the later reporting, the Church expressed regret, said abuse would not be tolerated and pledged cooperation with investigations. The statement quoted by the BBC did not explain Mr Neely’s move to Tipperary.
Researcher Mr Niall Meehan has documented allegations that COIHS removed references to Mr Neely’s founding role and retrospectively changed references to the “W.G. Neely Prize”. His compilation reproduces website comparisons dated September 24th and November 26th 2022. The original archived pages require independent comparison before the precise extent and timing of those changes can be stated conclusively.
Mr Bostrom told the BBC that he had forgiven Mr Neely but wanted the Church to acknowledge publicly the harm done. His account puts the central questions plainly; what did Church authorities know, what action did they take, and why did Mr Neely continue in ministry with access to children?
An accurate historical record must include the testimony of those who say they suffered, alongside the honours and positions Mr Neely received.
Gardaí are continuing enquiries after Independent Kerry TD Mr Michael Healy-Rae was assaulted, while sitting in his car in traffic on Cork Street, Dublin, today Wednesday, September 16th.
Officers from Kevin Street Garda Station responded shortly after 4:00pm. According to the Garda account, a lone man approached and assaulted the motorist while he was stopped in traffic. Mr Healy-Rae was brought to Kevin Street station for medical attention, before being transferred to St Vincent’s University Hospital. His injuries were described as not life-threatening.
Witnesses and camera footage sought Gardaí are asking anyone who witnessed the incident to come forward, particularly people who have camera footage from the area at the time. In the latest reports checked, no arrests had been made and enquiries remained ongoing.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Kevin Street Garda Station Tel: 01 666 9400, or the Garda Confidential Line Tel: 1800 666 111or indeed any Garda station.
Mr Oliver O’Grady, the convicted child abuser and former Roman Catholic priest; defrocked in 2001, and who previously lived and studied in Thurles, Co. Tipperary, has reportedly returned to Ireland since August of this year, 2026.
Defrocked Priest Mr Oliver O’Grady.
The Irish Sun newspaper, reporting on September 15th last, stated that the 81-year-old had completed a one-year sentence at Carregueira prison in Portugal for possessing child sexual abuse material. It reported that Portuguese police alerted Irish Gardaí before his arrival at Dublin Airport, where officers questioned him about his accommodation plans. He reportedly intended to remain in Dublin.
Mr O’Grady’s connection with Thurles dates back to 1964, when he entered St Patrick’s College, to study for the priesthood. According to the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference, his studies were sponsored by the Diocese of Stockton, California. He completed his training and was ordained in 1971, before moving back to California. Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference states that he was never a priest of an Irish diocese.
He later returned to live in Thurles following imprisonment in the United States. A contemporary Associated Press report dated May 12th 2005, confirmed he had been living in the town since 2003, in rented accommodation on its outskirts. Local people described him as keeping very much to himself and regularly going for walks.
That report followed publicity surrounding his videotaped testimony in an American civil case. Neighbours would later report that Mr O’Grady had gone to Dublin to avoid the publicity. The precise length of his residence remains uncertain, although a later American news account stated that he possibly resided four years in Thurles.
His criminal history includes a 1993 California conviction for sexually abusing two brothers and a three-year Irish prison sentence in 2012 for possessing child sexual abuse material. In October 2020, Waterford Circuit Court sentenced him to a further 22 months after a jury convicted him of possessing a child abuse video.
His Thurles seminary connection also featured in litigation against the Cashel and Emly diocese. In January 2007, the Bishops’ Conference reported that a California court had dismissed claims against the archdiocese, finding no admissible evidence that it knew of his propensity to molest children.
The proportion of adults in Ireland who said they had experienced personal crime rose from 10% in 2019 to 19% in 2025, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
Over the same period, the share of personal crime victims who reported incidents to gardaí fell from 39% to 30%. Published today, September 14th 2026, the Crime and Victimisation 2025 report also found increases in household, farm and vehicle crime, compared with the previous survey.
Fraud affected 11% of respondents, up from 4% in 2019. Card payment fraud was the most common form, affecting 45% of fraud victims. Non-violent theft affected 8% of adults, twice the 2019 proportion, with Dublin recording the highest rate at 11%. Violent theft increased from 2% to 3%, while physical assault rose from 2% to 4%. These categories can overlap because respondents may have experienced more than one type of crime.
Households also reported more experiences of burglary or vandalism, including attempts. The proportion affected increased from 4% to 5%, while the share reporting household crime to gardaí declined from 59% to 47%. Among households that did not report some or all incidents and gave a reason, 40% considered the incident insufficiently serious or said they had suffered no loss. That was down from 47% in 2019. A belief that Gardaí could not or would not act was cited by 56%; with respondents selecting more than one reason.
Farm crime affected more than a quarter of farming households. Some 26% said their farm had experienced crime, compared with 21% in 2019. Incidents included trespassing, stolen farm goods and damage to property.
For vehicle owners and users, 4% experienced theft or attempted theft of their vehicle, up from 3%. Dublin had the highest rate at 10%, while the corresponding rates in the Border, Midland and West regions were no higher than 2%. Bicycle theft and attempted theft, including incidents involving e-bikes, remained unchanged nationally at 5%. Dublin’s rate was substantially higher at 12%.
Concern about personal safety increased. In 2025, 23% of adults worried often or all the time about becoming a victim of crime causing physical injury or harm, compared with 15% in 2019. This concern was expressed by 29% of women and 17% of men. Nevertheless, 85% of respondents felt very or fairly safe walking in their local area, alone or accompanied.
Assessments of policing and justice also weakened. The proportion who considered Gardaí very or quite effective at tackling local crime fell from 68% to 57%. Confidence in the wider justice system’s ability to bring offenders to justice declined from 46% to 43%.
The survey collected 7,654 valid responses from a selected sample of 15,000 households, a response rate of 51%. Interviews took place during the second and third quarters of 2025.
The figures reflect adults’ experiences during the 12 months before their interview, rather than the calendar year alone. They provide survey estimates of victimisation that complement Garda-recorded crime statistics.
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