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 Five people have been arrested by Gardaí, from the Tipperary, Limerick and Clare Garda divisions, following investigations into organised crime and burglaries in the Limerick region.
Of those arrested, four are men aged between 19 and 27 years old and one female understood to be just 17 years old. All suspects were detained this morning following a series of searches in the counties of Tipperary and Limerick.
These arrests came about as part of Operation Fiacla, a Garda plan put in place some two years ago, which has proven extremely successful at gathering intelligence on travelling gangs that traverse the motorways around Ireland, carrying out often large scale burglaries.
The five are now understood to be detained separately at Nenagh, Roxboro Road, Newcastle West, Henry Street and Shannon Garda Stations.
Operation Fiacla was instigated initially following a continued period in which burglaries continued to rise significantly, despite a decline in almost all other forms of crime, since the onset of the Irish recession.
 Late Superintendent P. Moriarty The death occurred on January 22nd last of retired Garda Superintendent Patrick Moriarty, late of Gortlandroe, Nenagh, Co. Tipperary and Oola, Co. Limerick.
The late retired Garda Superintendent was predeceased by his wife Betty. Our sympathies go to his daughter Patrica, his grandsons David and Michael, Sisters Eileen and Betty, Brother in law Paul, Sister in law Delia, his Nephews and Nieces, Cousins, Relatives and many Friends.
Following Requiem Mass at St.Marys of the Rosary Church Nenagh, Superintendent Moriarty’s body was later burial in the new Cemetery at Lisboney, Nenagh.
During his lifetime Superintendent Moriarty had been awarded the Scott Medal for bravery, following his involvement in the capture of notorious Irish republican socialist paramilitary group (INLA) member, Dessie O’Hare, in 1987, latter nicknamed ‘The Border Fox’.
The Border Fox
Dessie O’Hare, who was once the most wanted man in Ireland, was responsible in 1987, together with three other known INLA members, for their kidnapping of Mr John O’Grady, latter a Dublin dentist. The gang were poorly informed, intending originally to seize Mr Austin Darragh, owner of the Institute of Clinical Pharmacology. However unknown to the gang, Mr Darragh had moved from that house three years previously, having passed on his ownership to Mr O’Grady, latter also his son-in-law.
John O’Grady was initially held in a Dublin basement, while a demand for a IR£1.5m ransom was made and he was later moved to a Co. Cork disused cargo container. Located by investigating police in Cork, O’Hare, their prisoner and his gang escaped, using a hijacked car and having opened fired on Gardaí. O’Hare and his captive now hid out in a house in Cabra, in north Dublin, sending the hijacked car north to Dundalk, where it was later located burnt out.
All initial ransom demands had been refused, resulting in the cutting off of the little finger from each of Mr O’Grady’s hands, using a hammer and chisel. Fingers were sent to Carlow Cathedral, with a telephone call sent to Gardaí stating; “It’s just cost John two of his fingers. Now I’m going to chop him into bits and pieces and send fresh lumps of him every fucking day if I don’t get my money fast.”
Through Garda gathered intelligence, the gang were traced to the north Dublin house in Cabra and a shootout followed. One Garda detective was seriously wounded and Mr John O’Grady freed, while O’Hare and gang escaped. O’Hare now became the most wanted man in Ireland with a reward offered of IR£100,000 for information leading to his whereabouts. Two of the gang were later arrested, in early November near Cahir, Co Tipperary.
In the same month, on November 27th, O’Hare was arrested after his car attempted to drive through an Irish Defence Force check point outside Urlingford, County Kilkenny. O’Hare was shot eight times during his attempted arrest, while his driver Martin Bryan, died in the fire fight which ensued. An Irish army soldier was also wounded. Dessie O’Hare was sentenced to life imprisonment but later released early under the Good Friday Agreement.
Huge tributes were paid to the late Mr Moriarty at his Funeral Mass at St Marys of the Rosary Church on January 24th and at Nenagh District Court, a precinct which he served honourably from 1981 through to 1994.
Go ndéana Dia trócaire ar a anam dílis.
 With effect from the 29th of October 2013 the application process for an Irish National Drivers Licence is changing. A new plastic card driver licence has been introduced, replacing the previous paper driving licence and learner permit.
When applying here in Tipperary, residents will need to visit one of the two new National Driver Licence Service (NDLS) centres to be set up at Suite No 9, Second Floor, Powerstown House, Clonmel (South Tipp) or No 10 Silver Street, Nenagh (North Tipp).
As part of what now will be a face-to-face application process, your photo and your signature will be captured digitally. These will be included in the existing fee which will see costs rise significantly, with a one-year driving licence costing €25, a three-year driving licence costing €35 and a ten-year driving licence costing €55. You will also be required to provide additional documentation to confirm your identity. Further information on this and other conditions are available on the NDLS website.
This is an EU initiative to introduce a more secure, compact style of licence for use in all member states. The number of driving licence categories have also increased and the minimum age requirement for certain categories have likewise changed.
This new National Drivers Licensing initiative is being viewed as an unnecessary interference in Irish affairs at a time when Ireland’s motorists face great financial hardship and where many secondary roads continue to remain in an unsafe condition.
Because of the required face-to-face application process now required, those wishing to renew Driver Licences can expect unnecessary delays of up to 5 hours at these newly appointed centres. While persons of advanced years will find the process a further cause for distress, this change will now most certainly affect the annual incomes of various photographic stations and pharmaceutical outlets, latter who previously supplied passport photographs for same required licences.
Further information is also available on the Road Safety Authority’s website.
One hopes that this new technology will be an improvement on our previous waste of public monies. I refer of course to the investment of €55m on 7,600 ill-fated e-voting machines which were later sold for a reported €70,267 to KMK Metals Recycling Ltd, for shredding, earning the latter company in excess of 1 million Euro.
 A paramedic, who used his iPhone to spy on female colleagues in a unisex toilet, has walked free from Nenagh Courthouse, without a conviction.
Mr Robert Murphy had pleaded guilty in March 2013 to a charge of harassment committed on May 5th 2012, following the discovery of his iPhone in a toilet at a HSE ambulance base situated at Tyone, Nenagh Tipperary.
Nenagh District Court were told of how one of Mr Murphy’s female colleagues had noticed a box of disposable gloves with holes punched in it, perched on a windowsill at the toilet. When she examined the box closely she discovered Mr Murphy’s phone recording her in video mode.
The unnamed victim of the case then complained to her supervisor and Mr Murphy admitted guilt, apologised and deleted the video recording in front of the victim, Nenagh court was told.
The following day Gardaí visited Mr Murphy’s home and the father of three again admitted his guilt.
In court today Mr Murphy’s solicitor stated to Judge Elizabeth MacGrath that his client had previously put his life in danger for the public’s safety and had performed over and above the line of duty in his occupation as a paramedic, and he could not see any service to the people of Ireland in State law now recording a conviction in this particular case.
The court was informed that Mr Murphy, who was supported in court by family and friends, had fully engaged with the probation services and continued to undergo counselling, having paid €5,000 in compensation to his accuser.
The court was also informed that Mr Murphy was facing serious disciplinary action by his employers, the HSE, and if a conviction was recorded it would have very serious consequences for any future employment.
Judge Elizabeth MacGrath took into consideration Mr Murphy’s previous unblemished character; his traumatic life as a child when his mother was murdered and his father’s conviction, forcing him to move from the US to Ireland at the age of eight years; the fact that he had engaged fully with the probation services and also that Mr Murphy’s wife had been diagnosed with cancer four years ago, into her judgement decision.
In applied the Probation Act, Judge MacGrath stated that the accused had gone as far as he could go, in making amends and that he was of very low risk of re-offending or of becoming a danger to anyone into the future.
An on duty member of An Garda Síochána, who claimed that a man deliberately spat blood and saliva into his face threatening to infect him with HIV, has been awarded €100,000 damages under the Garda Compensation Act. (Report Independent.ie)
Garda John McDonnell, aged 50, had been assaulted in November 2007 while attempting to arrest a man, involved in a breach of the peace, at Cashel Place, Cashel, South Tipperary. The Garda had sought compensation for anxiety and distress he allegedly suffered regarding fear of potential HIV and Hepatitis C infection and for bruising injuries received to his neck, back and arms, obtained during this incident.
In a reserved judgement Justice Mary Irvine stated it was unusual that the Garda victim had not immediately wiped the blood and saliva off his face, when in fear of contracting possible infections, but had instead returned to Cashel Garda Station where a colleague had taken photographs of facial blood spittle, prior to it being then washed off. Garda McDonnell’s assailant did not have HIV or Hepatitis C up to two weeks after the assault.
Justice Mary Irvine took into account Garda McDonnell’s significant history of back problems, which he had incurred during an assault while on duty in 1998, and for which he had previously been awarded €40,000 under the Garda Compensation Act.
The judge accepted his claim for loss of earnings and awarded €65,000 damages for personal injury; €31,000 for reduced past and future loss of earnings and gratuity up to the age of 55, plus €4,000 in special damages.
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