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 Noel Coonan with Alan Shatter Minister Alan Shatter has assured Deputy Noel Coonan that Templemore Garda College will remain open.
The Minister for Justice Alan Shatter addressed Templemore Town Council last Thursday where he passionately assured all present that: “There was never ever any doubt of any description that Templemore Garda College would close. It represents a crucial part of the architecture of our Garda force and is here to stay.”
Minister Shatter also moved to reassure all present that he “hopes to resume recruiting within 18 months.” These words of fortitude and reassurance were given following a passing out ceremony in the Garda College.
Minister Shatter continued: “The financial envelope handed down from the last Government has put huge constraints on our economic activities but we have to abide by it. There is no means of raising additional moneys; arrangements have been entered into with the IMF/EU bailout. We will know a lot more next March about where we stand financially and it will be clearer then when recruiting can recommence.”
Deputy Coonan welcomed the Justice Ministers’ comments and thanked him for agreeing to address the council. The local Fine Gael TD also outlined that it was the last Government who undertook to reduce Garda numbers to 13,500 by the end of this year, and to 13,000 by the end of 2014 but the Garda College remains one of the leading police academies worldwide.
The Minister also said that if a greater number of the Garda force retire than anticipated in the coming year then that may bring forward recruitment. “Recruits will be brought back in as soon as the force meets limits outlined by the IMF. I’m very conscious of the importance of the Garda College to this area and it’s crucial it stays vibrant. I have a great affection for the college and we are constantly looking at initiatives that can benefit from skills and facilities within the college. For example, the college could be utilised to provide police training for other countries or used by groups such as those participating in the London Olympics. These discussions are at a very early stage but these initiatives would bring revenue and tourism to Templemore. The backlog of in-service training will now commence and I want to compliment the management of the college who have put these in place. We have more gardai now that we had at the height of the troubles in Northern Ireland and we still have a strong and superbly trained force.” said Minister Shatter.
In conclusion, Deputy Coonan asked the Minister if extra patrol cars could be allocated to Templemore Garda Station as they currently have one small car to cover a huge area. Minister Shatter gave reassurances that he will raise the issue with the Garda Commissioner.
 Supt. P McCabe, Dept. N Coonan, Min. B Hayes, Insp. R Mulderrig, Local Deputy Noel Coonan has moved to alleviate concerns regarding future recruitment at Templemore Garda College. saying that, as the local Government TD, he is in constant contact with Justice Minister Alan Shatter who has been made “fully aware” of serious local concerns regarding gardaí recruitment to the college.
The local Fine Gael TD said that while the last 126 gardaí graduate from Templemore this Thursday, there are exciting new proposals for the Garda College, in the short term, which will ensure the college stays alive and vibrant.
“It was the previous Government who signed the EU/IMF bailout which included a commitment to cut garda numbers by 1,000 this year with further reductions signed for next year. With this in mind, management at the Garda College put in place intensive in-service training programmes that will lead to 30,000 bed nights in the college this year and 50,000 next year. Only last month, Minister of State with special responsibility for the Office of Public Works (OPW) Brian Hayes also visited the Garda College, where he outlined the Government’s strong commitment to the establishment.
We discussed the facility’s future with Superintendent Pat McCabe and Inspector Ray Mulderrig and it was agreed that the Fine Gael-led Government is confidently advancing plans for An Garda Siochana’s tactical training unit in Clonmore, Templemore with foundations for a ‘skills building,’ expected to be completed during this Summer.” stated Deputy Coonan.
Deputy Coonan also stated there are other proposals being actively pursued that he hopes will come to fruition and it’s not all “doom and gloom,” for the college as portrayed in the national media.
“There is an opinion out there that the college is dying because student recruitment has halted, but there are discussions ongoing in the background that will ensure the continued survival of the establishment, which is crucial to the Templemore economy. I will be doing all in my power to ensure recruits and local employment are restored as soon as possible.” concluded Deputy Coonan.
 The final group of 126 student Gardai will graduates from the Garda College in Templemore, Co Tipperary, next Thursday and there will now be no new students in training, due to the moratorium on recruitment with effect from that date.
Presently, there is no indication when any further new students will begin training at the Templemore college and fears are being expressed that experienced Garda officers nationally will now begin leaving the Republic’s force in the coming months.
Present Gardai, employed here in the Republic, are also expected to be attracted by a new recruitment campaign, targeting their members, by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) who are launching a campaign designed to attract senior officers from existing police forces both in England and the Irish Republic, thus providing an increased policing service in the North to effectively meet current terrorist threats. Financing of this new recruitment drive, by the PSNI is being provided by an additional grant of €245m to the PSNI earlier this year, to assist the Northern Ireland force in combating serious security threats, posed by criminal dissident republicans.
This student vacuum created at the Templemore College is now expected to result in a redeployment of some experienced training officers and other staff, who will be offered operational duties elsewhere, while the immediate future of the college will be become dependant on ‘In Service ‘ and ‘Pre Retirement Courses,’ providing some work for the few remaining full-time personnel.
The Republic’s overall Garda Force now stands at 14,000 and the Government have confirmed their intention to reduce this number by up to 1,000 members by 2014.
Templemore and Thurles view this situation as a serious financial blow to both town’s local economies.
Templemore Garda Training College here in Templemore, Co Tipperary, was once among the most elite of police academies within in Europe. Its future seemed excellent with the purchase of a further 220 acre site at Clonmore, situated close to Templemore, for the inflated price of €5.5 million, but that was five years ago.
Latter had been purchased for use as a Firearms and Tactical TrainingFacility, but was shelved following major required spending cuts under the last Fianna Fáil government.
Now Fine Gael Deputy Noel Coonan states he is confidently again advancing plans for a Garda Siochana tactical training unit in Clonmore, Templemore, with foundations for a Skills Building expected to be completed during this Summer.
The Minister of State, with special responsibility for the Office of Public Works (OPW), Brian Hayes recently visited the Garda College in Templemore together with Deputy Coonan, where they discussed the facility’s future with Superintendent Pat McCabe and Inspector Ray Mulderrig.
The Minister of State, also inspected the tactical training site in Dromard, Clonmore, close to Templemore Town. Any future development of the project will involves participation between An Garda Siochana and OPW officials, and the progressing of any further works at Dromard is subject to the priority attached to it, by An Garda Síochána within the overall Garda accommodation programme.
Deputy Coonan said the skills building would allow for in-house tactical manoeuvre training. Discussions are ongoing and the OPW expect to have this new Garda training centre ‘shovel ready,’ once State funding becomes available.
The centre, when completed, will train members in the use of firearms and train specialist units in tactical manoeuvres for armed incidents.
The planning consultation phase under Part 9 of the Planning Regulations was completed recently and tender documents are expected to issue shortly.
Two barmen, Mr Gary Wright and Mr Aidan Dalton, both charged with the manslaughter of Mr Graham Parish, were found not guilty on the judge’s orders this morning at Nenagh Court. Both men had denied responsibility for the death of Mr Parish in Hayes Hotel, Thurles, Co Tipperary, on June 30th 2008.
 Hayes Hotel, Thurles, Co Tipperary Mr Parish, from Calder Terrace in Lomeshaye village near Nelson, East Lancashire, was celebrating his 26th birthday, when he drank a lethal mix of at least eight shots in one glass.
Mr Parish’s grieving parents David and Julie and his sister Jess were obviously upset, as they left the Circuit Court in Nenagh, where Judge Thomas Teehan directed the jury to return a verdict of not guilty. The family of the late Mr Parish said in a statement later, that Graham had brought much happiness to his family and he was greatly missed. They now hoped this case will highlight the dangers of alcohol and if this incident could prevent further deaths then their son’s death would not have been in vain.
Judge Teehan stated that the State had proved Mr Wright and Mr Dalton had a duty of care to Mr Parish, and had breached that duty of care and that their negligence was gross, however he found their negligence was not the cause of the victim’s death and Mr Parish had taken the decision to consume the drink of his own free will. He said there was a high level of personal responsibility in relation to drink and no jury could safely bring in a verdict of guilty on either man, directing the jury to find them not guilty.
This case is set to raise further debate over the responsibility owed to consumers by bar proprietors and those working in licenced premises, and also the responsibility by consumers, to themselves, in controlling their personal drinking behaviour.
Family and friends wept in court as the case was dramatically struck out. The accused, through their Thurles Solicitor, Mr J.J. Fitzgerald, extended their sympathies to the Parish family.
The six-day trial heard that Mr Parish had been drinking heavily in the hotel bar with his five other British contractors, who were working in a meat processing plant in the area. Both Mr Wright, a barman for 13 years, and Mr Dalton, who had worked in the pub trade for some 10 years, told investigators they believed the drink would be shared among his friends.
This case is the first of its kind under newly introduced Irish alcohol liability laws.
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