Education « Thurles Information

Alleged Tipperary School Bus Tender Collusion Case.

Alleged School Bus Tender Collusion Case Hears Claims of ‘Loaded Dice’ in Tipperary and Surrounding Counties.

The Central Criminal Court has heard allegations that five school bus operators attempted to “load the dice” in their favour by distorting competition in the tender process for school transport services across five counties.

Five Tipperary men are being prosecuted by the Competition Authority in connection with the provision of school transport services. All five deny the charges.

The accused are:
Mr Andrew Walsh aged 62, Derrymore, Roscrea, Co. Tipperary.
Mr Raymond Heney aged 54, Camas, Cashel, Co. Tipperary.
Mr Noel Browne aged 77, Bansha, Co. Tipperary.
Mr Larry Hickey aged 73, Ardmayle, Cashel, Co. Tipperary.
Mr Anthony Flynn aged 51, Golden Road, Cashel, Co. Tipperary.

Each man faces a single charge under the Competition Act 2002. It is alleged that, between 1st November 2014 and 31st December 2016, they engaged in a concerted practice which had as its object or effect the prevention, restriction or distortion of competition in trade in the provision of school transport services.

The trial has heard that all of the accused were involved in bidding for tenders to provide school bus routes during the period in question. It is alleged that, rather than competing independently, the men colluded in how they would bid.

The jury was told that one of the accused arranged meetings with other bus operators, ostensibly to assist with administrative processes. At these meetings, it is alleged that operators discussed the allocation and pricing of school bus routes and agreed to bid for tenders in a coordinated manner.

Counsel for the prosecution, Dominic McGinn SC, said that parties in a tender process cannot lawfully discuss who is bidding for what, or at what price. He told the jury that there was a “degree of coordination” between the parties so that tender prices would end up higher than they would be in a genuinely competitive process.

Mr McGinn explained that competition law exists to protect consumers and taxpayers by ensuring value for money and preventing manipulation of markets.
He told the jury that:
“Agreements or understandings not to charge below a certain amount, amounted to price fixing and provided no benefit to consumers.
Market sharing”, where competitors agree among themselves to allocate specific areas or routes so that there is effectively only one provider, is also prohibited.
Any manipulation of that or distortion of that is unfair to us,” he said, noting that, as this case concerns public contracts, the people ultimately affected are taxpayers.

Mr McGinn said the alleged conduct did not require a formal written agreement, but involved collusion, an exchange of information and coordination that led to “the disappearance of competition” in the relevant tenders.

He told the jury that the case was not about the importance of school transport for children in Tipperary, nor about the fact that the accused men are approaching retirement and are alleged to have committed the offences late in their careers. Rather, he said, the case concerns whether the five men, and possibly others, attempted to “load the dice” to distort competition in the school transport market.

All five accused have pleaded not guilty.
The trial continues today, Thursday, before Mr Justice David Keane and a jury of seven men and four women.

Surge In Dumped Battery & Electronic Devices Sparks Urgent Fire Warning.

A Tipperary waste management company, Ryan Brothers Environmental Services, has launched a public awareness campaign following a rise in fires caused by batteries, vapes and electronics being thrown into household wheelie bins, skips and public street bins.

Items such as vapes, power banks, cordless power tools, e-bikes, and e-scooters are increasingly appearing in municipal waste streams and are now the leading cause of fires in the waste management industry.

**Rise in fires caused by batteries, vapes and electronics**.

The Christmas STAR (Stop Think And Recycle) initiative highlights the urgent need for action and comes ahead of the festive and New Year period, when households typically dispose of old electronics and batteries while also bringing new ones into the home.

Facility Manager of Ryan Brothers Environmental Services, Mr Bill Ryan said the sharp increase in batteries, vapes and electronics is creating serious safety risks.

He said the improper disposal of batteries and electronic items “puts lives, property, the environment and businesses at risk”.

Mr Ryan urged the public not to dispose of batteries, vapes or electronic devices in household or public bins, but to bring them to designated WEEE/battery collection points.

He said many people do not realise how easily fires can start.

“A fire can begin when a battery is compacted/pierced in a bin lorry. If the casing cracks it can short-circuit, producing intense heat and sudden flames. Inside one of our trucks it can spread in seconds,” Mr. Ryan explained.

He continued, “It only takes one vape or power bank to trigger a serious incident. We have had fires start while trucks were on the road, forcing crews to stop, isolate the fire and in conjunction with fire services, unload burning material to save the vehicle. There are far too many reports from around the country of waste transfer stations and recycling facilities experiencing fires caused by batteries and other electronics.”

Mr Ryan said preventing fires “starts with proper disposal” and that using the correct facilities helps protect homes, vehicles and recycling infrastructure.

The public is urged to visit www.weeeireland.ie for WEEE Ireland recycling locations and for advice on the safe disposal of batteries and electronic waste.

Tipperary Health Advocates Urge Action As Ultra-Processed Food Giants Sued.

Landmark US case seen as “a warning shot” for Ireland and EU food policy.

Earlier this month, the European Commission has recalled consignments of frozen Brazilian beef products imported into the EU, after it was found they contained hormones banned by the bloc.
The banned hormones were detected in shipments that arrived into Europe earlier this month.

Co. Tipperary and Irish public health advocates are calling on the Government and EU institutions to accelerate action on ultra-processed foods (UPFs), following a landmark lawsuit filed this week, by the City of San Francisco against some of the world’s biggest food manufacturers.

And now, a case, taken by San Francisco; the first of its kind brought by a public authority, alleges that companies including Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Kraft Heinz, Nestlé and others engineered and aggressively marketed ultra-processed products while knowing they were driving a crisis in obesity and chronic disease, in breach of unfair competition and public nuisance laws.

Various groups promoting healthy diets in Ireland claim that the lawsuit should be “a wake-up call” for Ireland, where research shows ultra-processed foods account for around 45.9% of the average household shopping basket, placing the Irish State in line with the highest consumers in Europe.

What San Francisco is saying, very clearly, is that this is not just about individual willpower, it’s about products and marketing strategies that put profit before people’s health.

Ireland has one of the highest levels of overweight and obesity in Europe. We cannot ignore the role of an increasingly ultra-processed food environment in that picture.

According to the HSE and recent national surveys, around 60% of Irish adults and over one in five children are now living with overweight or obesity.

The San Francisco lawsuit draws heavily on emerging international evidence, including a major Lancet series published last month, which found consistent associations between high UPF intake and increased risks of obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, some cancers, depression and premature death.

The message is that ultra-processed foods are not just empty calories, they are strongly linked with chronic disease across multiple organ systems. Ireland cannot afford to be a bystander while other jurisdictions start to hold industry to account.

While Ireland has introduced measures such as the sugar-sweetened drinks tax and restrictions on marketing high-fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) foods to children, the various groups promoting healthy diets, note that current rules focus mainly on nutrients, not on the degree of processing or the cumulative impact of additives, texture engineering and aggressive branding.

At EU level, the Farm to Fork Strategy includes a commitment to a harmonised, mandatory front-of-pack nutrition label and stronger nutrient profiles to restrict health and nutrition claims on unhealthy products. However, progress has been slow and does not yet directly address ultra-processing as such.

Various groups promoting healthy diets are urging the Irish Government to:

Back strong EU-wide front-of-pack labelling that is easy to understand and compatible with emerging evidence on UPFs;
Tighten marketing rules, particularly digital advertising and brand promotions aimed at children, to cover ultra-processed categories rather than just narrow nutrient thresholds;
Set clear procurement standards so that publicly funded schemes – including school meals, hospitals and other State services – progressively move away from serving ultra-processed products as default options;
Monitor and report the proportion of the Irish food supply and advertising spend accounted for by ultra-processed products.

Ireland now needs to recognise the same underlying problem: a food system where the cheapest, most available and most heavily promoted options are the very products most closely linked with long-term illness.

People in Ireland now has a choice, to wait and react, or to lead in protecting people’s health.

Irish Government Announces 37 projects Under Ireland Against Racism Fund 2025.

€1.5m will be made available to 37 NGOs and community organisations to progress projects to combat racism and promote racial equality and community cohesion.
Successful organisations will receive grants of up to €100,000 and will fund a range of projects from promoting employability, to educational supports and training needs as well as a range of community based initiatives.
The fund is key part of the National Action Plan Against Racism.

The Irish Government, today, announced €1.5m will be made available to 37 NGOs and community organisations to progress projects to combat racism and promote racial equality and community cohesion.

Successful organisations will receive grants of up to €100,000 and will fund a range of projects from promoting employability, to educational supports and training needs as well as a range of community based initiatives.

The 2025 Ireland Against Racism Fund for proposals ran from 16^th July 2025 – 27^th August 2025. €1,539,234 has been made available in 2025 to support anti-racism projects through grant funding of €40,000 – €100,000 per successful Scheme A project and €5,000 – €10,000 per successful Scheme B project.

Tipperary features in the Successful Scheme B projects:

Organisation Name:	Project Name:	Amount Awarded:	Geographical Scope:
Waterford Integration Services (WIS)	A Future Without Bias: Youth Convention on Combating Racism Through AI & VR applications	€10,000	Carlow, Kilkenny, Tipperary, Waterford & Wexford

The fund is key part of the National Action Plan Against Racism today announced the 37 projects set to receive over €1.5m in funding under the Ireland Against Racism Fund 2025.

The Fund enables non-government and community organisations to provide national and regional projects and local initiatives that combat racism and promote racial equality.

A number of successful organisations will use the funding to deliver promotional campaigns in the community, including in schools and youth groups, about how to tackle racism and discrimination. Organisations will also use the funding to provide training to staff and initiatives focusing on increasing the skills and employability of migrants.

The Fund is a key part of the National Action Plan Against Racism (NAPAR) which was informed by the experiences of people who have been directly affected by racism.

‘My Hidden Me’ – Book Launch – Cashel Library.

Ms Maura Barrett, (Cashel Library) Reports:

Next Tuesday, 9th December 2025, at 6.30pm Cashel Library are delighted to host a Book Launch of ‘My Hidden Me’, by local woman Ms Margaret O’Donnell and illustrated beautifully by Ms Majella Ryan.

The proceeds of this stunning poetry collection will go to the Children’s Health Foundation (CHI)

Wine & Nibbles reception at 6.30pm sharp will be followed by the book launch and all welcome to attend.

Ms Margaret O’Donnell has stated. “I live in the Golden Vale of Tipperary. I have loved putting this book together. I’ve finally found the courage to set my hidden me free with my poetry. I hope my words helps the reader to set their hidden me free too.”

Visitors attending this event can locate the Cashel Library building; situated on Friar Street, Lady’s Well, Cashel, Co. Tipperary, HERE. (Eircode E25 K798).