Crime « Thurles Information

Minister McEntee Hosts ‘Virtual National Missing Persons Day’ Event.

The Minister for Justice, Mrs Helen McEntee TD, this morning hosted an online commemorative ceremony to mark the ninth annual national “Missing Persons Day”.

National Missing Persons Day is an all-Ireland day of commemoration, providing an opportunity for family members and friends of missing persons to remember their loved ones and to appeal to the public for any information that might be of assistance to An Garda Síochána.

Speaking at the virtual event, Minister McEntee said,

“While it saddens me greatly that another year has passed and we are not able to come together safely in person on this important day, I know that Missing Persons Day provides families and friends affected by the ambiguous loss of a loved one with comfort, hope and a sense of unity, no matter what the setting.
National Missing Persons Day provides an important platform to raise awareness of Ireland’s missing men, women and children. But it is also about ensuring that Ireland’s missing people are never forgotten.
I would like to encourage people who may have information about one of our missing people to come forward. Any information, even if it appears insignificant or irrelevant, has the potential to be important and valuable to both those investigating the disappearance of our missing persons, and the families and friends of missing persons.
I also want to encourage close family relatives of missing people who have yet to do so to provide a DNA sample for uploading to our national DNA database. The collection and subsequent matching of DNA samples from this database represents a key turning point in the identification of human remains in Ireland and has provided much longed-for closure for an increasing number of families.”

To mark national ‘Missing Persons Day’, an intimate, in-person ceremony is held each year, featuring spoken contributions from affected families, in addition to speeches from the Minister, the Garda Commissioner, and a number of other state or voluntary organisations.

However, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s Missing Persons Day was again marked by an online commemorative ceremony. This year’s ceremony was again compered by Barry Cummins and featured contributions from representatives of the Coroner Service and the Irish Coast Guard.

Addressing a number of recent positive developments in the justice sector, Minister McEntee said,

“In June this year, Minister Humphreys wrote to each coroner in the State, requesting that they send my Department details of all unidentified human remains within their coronial districts. Som 35 of 38 coroners have now submitted these returns, which are being collated by departmental officials and will be shared with the Missing Persons Unit, at the Garda National Protective Services Bureau for analysis.
From 2022 onwards, coroners will be asked to include details of any unidentified human remains reported to them in the preceding year, as part of a new statutory annual return to myself, as Minister for Justice. My Department will provide an ongoing annual update on any new cases to the Missing Persons Unit, to enable Gardaí to follow up with the individual coroners.”

The Minister concluded,

“Finally, I would like to thank all the families who will join us virtually this morning. National Missing Persons Day is first and foremost about the families and close friends of our missing people. This is a day to commemorate your missing loved ones and, today, we remember them with you.”

Funding For Organisations Supporting Victims Of Abuse & Crime In Tipperary.

Minister for Justice, Mrs Helen McEntee announces details of funding for organisations supporting victims of abuse and crime to mark 16 days of activism against gender based violence

18 organisations are to receive funding this year primarily for regional based domestic abuse services.
Move will fill gaps in supports identified in areas of the country and for categories of victims
Announcement coincides with International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women
€4.9m in extra 2022 funds for organisations supporting victims of crime also open for applications

To mark International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, the Minister for Justice, Mrs Helen McEntee TD, has confirmed details of extra funding for areas of the country or categories of victims not currently fully covered by support services for victims.

As part of Minister McEntee’s ‘Supporting a Victim’s Journey Plan’ to help victims and vulnerable witnesses, a mapping exercise was undertaken to identify gaps in funding and how to address them. A number of organisations were identified where additional funding would allow them to provide further services and to increase the geographical spread of support to victims of crime.

Minister McEntee said, “I’m delighted to be able to confirm these details as we mark International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and start the UN’s 16 Days of Activism against gender-based violence.
In general terms the funding will increase these organisations ability to supports victims especially given the rise in those seeking help.
This will be done primarily by increasing phone line hours, emotional support, and increased court accompaniment. Most of the funding gaps identified called for increases to regional-based domestic abuse services so the geographical spread of support will be increased.
Tackling domestic, sexual and gender based crime is a priority for me and the Government. I am leading work on a new whole of government plan to tackle these awful crimes. This new plan will be the most ambitious to date and will be published early next year”.

Among the 18 organisations receiving a total of €445,000 in funding this year are Victim Support at Court, Lifeline Inishowen, Longford Women’s Link, Immigrant Council of Ireland and Dublin Rape Crisis Centre.

Ms Noeline Blackwell of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre said, “We will use this funding for a comprehensive information and awareness drive about accompaniment and support services.
We aim to build a set of resources which would allow anyone needing it to independently find information and guidance on what various aspects of court accompaniment mean, what services are provided, what a victim or the supporter of a victim should know.”

The extra funding is being provided in 2021. This is separate from increased funding recently announced under Budget 2022 for combatting domestic, sexual and gender based violence and for supporting victims of crime, which includes:

An additional €2.4m for specific awareness raising and training programmes on domestic, sexual and gender based violence (DSGBV) bringing to €5.35m the funding available for combatting domestic sexual and gender based violence.

An additional €1.1m will be used to begin putting in place a legal advice and legal aid service in court for victims of sexual violence.

An additional €1 million is being provided under the Garda Vote to provide accommodation for Divisional Protective Service Units.

The Budget 2022 allocation also includes €4.9m to support Victims of Crime.

The Department of Justice has invited applications for this funding from registered charities, voluntary community groups and other bodies which provide support services or assistance for victims of crime generally, including provision of support, information and advice on the rights of victims, and court and other accompaniment.

Minister McEntee added, “The objective is to ensure that all of these services are available to all victims who need them, to a consistently high standard and throughout the State”.

Applicants for funding must be civil society organisations and preferably a registered charity and must be returned by 5:00pm on December 6th 2021.

For further details on how to apply, please contact: fundsadmin-victims-crime@justice.ie

Court Of Appeal Rejects Murder Appeal By Patrick Quirke.

The Court of Appeal has rejected an appeal by Tipperary farmer Mr Patrick Quirke, against his 2019 conviction in relation to the murder of Mr Bobby Ryan, a lorry driver and DJ known as “Mr Moonlight”.

Mr Quirke is presently serving a life sentence, following a 15-week trial back in 2019, during which he had denied any involvement in Mr Ryan’s murder.

The trial had heard that he murdered his love rival Mr Ryan, in an effort to rekindle an affair with farm owner Mrs Mary Lowry.

Mr Ryan’s remains were found some two years later in 2013, after he went missing June in 2011; located in a disused underground run-off, slurry tank on Mrs Lowry’s farm.

The prosecution maintained that Mr Quirke had staged the discovery of Mr Ryan’s body, as he was about to give up his lease on the farm, fearing he would be found out.

Mr Quirke watched the proceedings by video link from Portlaoise Prison.

Revenue Officers Seize Drugs Destined For Tipperary.

Revenue officers have seized drugs at two premises in Dublin, with a street value of €159,700.

In all, the seizure contained over 7.8kg of herbal cannabis and 252 ecstasy tablets, discovered with the assistance of Revenue Customs detector dog Bailey.

The narcotics were concealed in parcels labelled as various types of herbal tea, and appear to have originated in the US, Canada, Spain and the Netherlands.

We understand that the drugs were destined for addresses in Tipperary, Waterford and Wexford.

Businesses or members of the public who may have information regarding smuggling can contact Revenue in complete confidence on Tel No: 1800 295 295.

Ministers Welcome Allocation Of Dormant Accounts Funding For Justice Initiatives.

**Minster for Justice** **Helen McEntee TD**

Minster for Justice, Mrs Helen McEntee TD, and Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Mr James Browne TD, have welcomed the allocation of funding, from the Dormant Accounts Fund, to a number of Department of Justice projects and initiatives.

Earlier today, the Department of Rural and Community Development announced that a total of €55.5 million has been allocated from the Dormant Accounts Fund to address disadvantage right across the country.

In total, approximately €10 million has been allocated to Department of Justice related projects and initiatives.

Welcoming this additional funding, Minister McEntee said,

“The funding we have been allocated will greatly assist us in the work we are doing to combat Domestic, Sexual and Gender Based Violence, roll out our Community Safety Partnerships, support victims of crime and support vulnerable young people.
The allocation of €250,000 for the implementation of targeted crime prevention and harm-reduction recommendations contained in the Drogheda Community Safety & Wellbeing Scoping Report will support, amongst others, The Red Door project for the provision of drugs outreach work, counselling, family support, client progression pathways, Court-related and prisoner support and additional harm reduction services in the Drogheda area.”

Welcoming the substantial allocation of €5,000,000 for Youth and Community Justice services, Minister Browne said,

“I very much welcome the Dormant Accounts Fund allocation for Youth Justice services. Together with the additional €6.7m extra Exchequer funding I obtained in Budget 2022, this allows us to make a very substantial start to the implementation of the Youth Justice Strategy.
The additional funding will allow us to ensure the Youth Diversion Project service is available throughout the State by end 2022 or early in 2023. It will also fund additional work in the areas of early intervention with children at risk, family support and outreach work with harder-to-engage young people in particular.
This work is vital to help divert young people from crime and anti-social behaviour and to protect victims by reducing future offending.”