Law « Thurles Information

Senior Gardaí Strongly Recommend Use Of Ministerial Cars

Senior gardaí are to recommend to present Government that the system of providing Cabinet Ministers with State cars, driven by their members, be fully maintained. This decision is in light of the paint attack on Minister for Health, Mary Harney, and they further believe that such attacks are indicative of major public anger at the present Government .

The issue was discussed yesterday, at a meeting of Chief Superintendents, at the Garda College in Templemore, Co Tipperary. This meeting is held every six months to enable senior officers to discuss past and future Garda strategies.

Senior officers believe the current ministerial fleet arrangements should be maintained in the interests of protecting Ministers from robust protest, or attack, expected particularly after the forthcoming December budget.

Ministerial Mercedes S350

Senior gardaí are also not in favour of a Ministerial car pooling system, which was suggested by the Minister for the Environment, TD John Gormley.

They believe no steps should be taken that would weaken the security afforded by armed gardaí that drive the ministerial fleet, particularly at a time of growing public anger over the recession. These gardaí who drive ministerial cars are always trained armed detectives who double as Ministerial bodyguards.

Soon to retire, Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy will now convey the opinions of his senior officers, on this matter, to Minister for Justice, Dermot Ahern, latter who admits to using his own car at weekends without a garda driver. Do we now have to insist that Dermot Ahern use his Ministerial car and driver, and what about TD’s without Ministerial cars, must they now live without security and in fear of attack by angry mobs?

Recent public debate on the ministerial fleet focuses on the €11 million cost encurred over the past two years at a time of massive strain on public finances.

What is not known is if the matter of using trained army personnel to replace gardaí was discussed, releasing trained garda personnel to investigate the number of daily drug related gang killings and other serious crime committed against the ordinary tax paying citizen.

Ministerial cars, as we know them today, were not introduced until after the murder of 35 year old Irish Minister for Justice, Kevin O’Higgins, as he made his way to Mass, on Booterstown Avenue in Dublin. This murder was undertaken by three Anti Treaty members of the IRA in 1927, namely Timothy Coughlin, Bill Gannon and Archie Doyle, who were never apprehended for this crime because of an IRA Amnesty. The killing was in personal revenge for O’Higgins part in the executions of 77 IRA men during the civil war.

At that point, the Defence Forces insisted that senior Ministers of State should, understandably, travel by Armoured car, guarded by an armed escort.

Today Government Ministers must have a fuel guzzling Mercedes Benz together with garda drivers on call at a moments notice, to ferry them around like rock stars, under the guise of security. If security be the issue and I greatly doubt it, why not use the army again. Armed soldiers appear to do a great job securing our bank’s money, while also escorted by a police car with two uniformed unarmed garda officers in tow. Readers will forgive my apparent ignorance (You see I don’t get out much) and maybe can even enlighten me as to why we need both for bank escort duty.

Should we insist, now, in the interest of security, on replacing the Ministerial Mercedes Benz fleet with Armoured Cars loaned by the Irish army and supported by armed soldiers, thus ensuring that the gardaí can freely go about tackling serious crime, while still ensuring our Government remain safe while carrying out their duties?

When I think about security, I am reminded of a yarn about a Co.Roscommon Priest. The priest came to Dublin, four times a year, for church related meetings. He always, for convenience, parked his car in a PMPA car park on each visit and was approached on these visits by a guy who promised to keep an eye on his vehicle in return for a small monetary contribution. However, despite this promised personal security, three times in a row the priest returned to find his vehicle had been broken into and his car radio removed. On his next visit he decided to take extra precautions by bringing along his pet Alsatian dog, which had a natural in built dislike of all strangers. When approached by this guy, again offering to keep an eye on his car, the priest invited the individual to approach the said vehicle. On doing so the dog turned savage, baring his teeth and attempting to come through the window at the stranger.
“Do you think I need security for my car now” asked the priest, grinning.
“Jesus Father, isn’t that dog just fantastic, now tell me Father would he be able to put out a fire” replied the helpful self appointed security man.

Still sure “Isn’t a nod as good as a wink to a blind ass”, if you get my drift and boy do we appear to have a lot of blind asses in this country presently. Wonder was overtime a factor in this decision?.

Thurles Garda Vetting Unit Gets Ten Extra Part Time Staff

Information, just released, reveals that an additional ten persons have been recruited to Thurles’s Garda Central Vetting Unit to manage the 60,000 vetting applications currently awaiting processing. This now brings to 15 the number of employees extra introduced to the service since June last.

North Tipperary Deputy Noel Coonan confirming this news stated:

“The Minister for Justice has informed me that due to the high volume of applications, an additional ten persons have now been recruited to the Vetting Unit on a temporary basis. In addition, overall staffing arrangements at the unit are under review at present, in the light of the increasing demands being made upon it. The allocation of Garda resources is a matter for the Garda Commissioner and I’m pleased to see the Thurles facility on Racecourse Road has acquired extra staff to handle the substantial increase in the numbers of vetting applications being received. The Garda Authorities have told me that the current average processing time for vetting applications is in the region of 10 to 12 weeks, given that demand is particularly high at present. However, I’m optimistic that waiting times will be shortened as a result of the increased staffing numbers. The safety of children and vulnerable adults is vital; making it crucial that vetting is carried out swiftly and people such as social workers or teachers are employed as soon as possible and their jobs are not put at risk because of long processing times. Processing time for vetting applications fluctuates during the year due to seasonal demands when the volume of applications received from certain sectors can increase and I want to commend the Gardaí who make every effort to reduce waiting times, while carrying out necessary checks.”

The local Fine Gael TD welcomed the extra appointments saying that the excessive backlog and slow processing time was putting jobs in jeopardy.

The Garda Central Vetting Unit carries out an essential role and does so excellently in providing employment vetting for a large number of organisations in Ireland registered with the Gardaí, which employ persons to positions where they would have substantial, unsupervised access to children and/or vulnerable adults.

Gun And Ammunition Go Missing From Tipperary Garda Station

The Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy has appointed Chief Superintendent Michael McGarry from the Co.Kilkenny Garda division, to investigate the disappearance of a firearm and ammunition from Tipperary Garda Station.

The revolver, an American .38 calibre Smith and Wesson, along with possibly up to 60 rounds of ammunition, was found to have vanished from a secured firearms area during an audit last week.

A Garda spokesman last night confirmed the gun and ammunition were both missing and confirmed that a senior garda had been appointed to investigate the gun’s disappearance.

It was also confirmed that the revolver was a standard garda issue weapon and belonged to the station and that a limited number of gardaí are responsible for accessing the weapon and issuing it to garda personnel.

It is understood the gun held at Tipperary would have been accessible to gardaí from several nearby Garda Station.

While at least six rounds went missing with the loaded weapon, initial inquiries now suggest that at least 60 rounds or possibly more are now also missing.

The investigation follows confirmation by Justice Minister Dermot Ahern that sensitive Garda files on a number of gang members were brought to a photocopying shop for printing and were left unattended for some period of time.

Update:

Feel safe in your beds folks, the missing gun and ammunition has been found safe and well. Reports indicate that the missing articles were in another secure area that everyone had forgotten about and the auditors did not know existed.

Tipperary Carjacking Ends In Arrest

Gardai have arrested a man aged in his early sixties, following the stealing of a car which contained a four month old baby boy on the rear seat.

The car was stolen in Newport Village, Co. Tipperary yesterday afternoon and the carjacker was pursued for over 50 kilometres by police.

Gardai immediately put an alert operation in place which resulted in the safe recovery of the baby and the car, in the area of Birdhill Nenagh. The baby was uninjured and was reunited by police with his distraught parents a short time later.

A male was arrested on the outskirts of Limerick at approximately 4.00pm and detained at Nenagh Garda Station under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984.

He was charged yesterday evening and is due to appear at Nenagh District Court today.

Recent Speeding Fines Issued May Not Be Valid

Particularly nowadays, we are all very familiar in this country with the phrase “Two Tier Society”, however for many months now, here in Co.Tipperary the picturesque village of Inch on highway R498, has been displaying a “Two Tier Speed Limit” and locals are boasting that they are the only village in the world which has this anomaly. Indeed they are hoping to gather much needed tourism revenue and expecting Shannon Development to assist them to promote this eighth wonder of the world.

How did this unusual phenomenal occur you might ask? Well to tell you the truth www.thurles.info for the first time ever admit we are totally gobsmacked.

Fairy at work in Inch Thurles.

Locals expound many theories as to how this came about and these include:-
(A) Signs were installed by a dyslexic NRA or North Tipperary Co. Council Council employee.
(B) Unhappy green fairies in the area are bitter because someone interfered with their rainbows. (Believe me there are fairies in Tipperary. They can best be seen after the pubs shut.)
(C) It is a special speed limit for local politicians and their Garda drivers, rushing to funerals and to the aid of the 7,712 Tipperary unemployed and the 36,438 households countrywide that are now in mortgage arrears.
(D) An effort by the Garda Traffic Corp to confuse drivers, so as to collect maximum money from speeding tickets, to assist in the bolstering of Anglo Irish Bank Guarantees.
(E) However the most common held theory elucidated, is that because of the imminent threat to Accident and Emergency services at Nenagh General Hospital, HSE officials and local politicians may need access to a quick getaway, the latter to survive taking part in the soon to be held next General Election.

All joking aside folks, while the National Roads Authority (NRA) reveal plans to develop a 2,000km cycle path network around the country at cost unknown and now also intend to spend €250,000 erecting signs across the motorway network, telling drivers there is nowhere to stop to eat, refuel or visit the toilet, motorist in Rural Tipperary are being fined for speeding where speed limit signs clearly do not exist or, at the very least, are confusing.

Top Local Solicitor and Thurles Councillor Mr Gerard O’Brien who runs his office from 2 Thomond Road in the town has described this scenario as “motorist entrapment, akin to shooting fish in a barrel.”

Whatever the reason for this anomaly, it would appear that after some months, no one is rushing to correct this confusion, which would include the replacement of missing speed signs traveling towards Thurles, and balancing the existing speed signs travelling towards the Nenagh direction. Our picture clearly shows the back and front of speed signs as you enter the village of Inch from the Thurles road and also as you leave the village, headed towards Thurles.

Locals inform us that a certain van regularly parks in the towns-land of Ballinahow, taking pictures of car number plates. In fact one was lurking there on the 2nd of September last at 7.00pm, we wonder if they photographed or even noticed this confusing signage. Certainly local police appeared to be unaware of it when I reported it today.
We have also notified North Tipperary Co. Council’s Health and Safety department so hopefully this confusion can be sorted out before the NRA run out of money or motorists end up in the local Courts, wasting a Judges valuable time.