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The Irish government is set to approve new legislation which will allow a member of An Garda Síochána (Guardians of the Peace) to request anyone, found wearing a mask or other face covering, to remove same in certain circumstances.
If the request is met by a refusal, the individual would be seen to commit a criminal offence and could be arrested and prosecuted.
In many cases such masks are being worn to prevent personal identification during street protests or where an offence is being carried out, as observed during riots on the streets of Dublin recently
A change in our laws would also allow An Garda Síochána to seize the offending and cowardly masks or other face coverings.
The proposed legislation is being brought to Cabinet for approval today by Minister for Justice Mr Jim O’Callaghan. It was initially designed to tackle far-right protesters, but is now expected to extend further granting Gardaí a more wide-ranging power, based on their judgment of any serious situation as in the case of street crime in our towns and cities.
Garda sources have confirmed that many crimes, including road traffic offences on scooters and motorbikes, as well as assaults and thefts are perpetrated by young offenders wearing face coverings.
If approved by Cabinet, the general scheme of the legislation will be published followed by a pre-legislative scrutiny process. It is envisaged the legislation could be enacted as early as October of this year and will be seen by many as a welcome change to Irish law.
The Irish Council for Civil Liberties, however, is deeply concerned by any change to the law which criminalises the wearing of face coverings and states that people may want to wear face coverings for medical reasons; religious reasons or to protect their privacy. (Obviously, none of their membership have walked O’Connell Street, Dublin, after 6:00pm on a winters night.)
Minister for Justice Mr Jim O’Callaghan has today addressed the Prison Officers’ Association (POA) Conference in Galway this morning; his first as Minister for Justice. Speaking on the first day of the conference, Minister O’Callaghan acknowledged the challenges facing prison officers and highlighted the steps he and the Government are taking to address them.
Thanking the POA for their collaboration and commitment to high standards, Minister O’Callaghan committed to “taking necessary steps to help [prison officers] succeed in this incredibly rewarding career.”
Meanwhile, POA President Mr Tony Power, in addressing the conference at the Galmont Hotel, urged the Minister to immediately address prison overcrowding.
The POA confirmed that this issue was causing a ‘potentially explosive situation’ as there are 5,344 people in custody, with 358 of those prisoners sleeping on mattresses on floors.
Speaking about overcrowding challenges facing the Irish Prison Service; Minister O’Callaghan said: “While the prison estate is currently expanding, I know it is not expanding at the rate that is urgently needed. Since 2022, capacity has been increased by more than 300 new spaces with 139 delivered in the last 12 months alone and more than 90 to be added this year.
Budget 2025 increased funding to €525 million to tackle overcrowding and increase capacity. This year, the Irish Prison Service capital budget is €53 million, also focused on providing additional prison spaces.”
The Minister spoke about important upcoming legislation – the Criminal Law and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions Bill) 2025 – which will help to ensure prison officer safety and introduce a range of improvements across prison operations:
Incapacitant Spray Where Prison Officer Safety At Risk.
The Minister stated “I am pleased to tell you that a proposal which I intend to bring forward shortly to Cabinet for approval, as part of the Miscellaneous Provisions Bill, is to amend the law so that prison officers can use incapacitant spray in incidents where their safety is at risk.”
The Minister added: “This Bill includes a range of measures that will bring welcome changes across a range of areas, improving operational capacity in our prisons and bolstering sentencing options to reduce reliance on custodial sentences. This includes a number of proposed amendments to the Community Service Act 1983 to encourage greater use of community service orders for those deemed appropriate.”
The Bill proposes doubling the amount of hours’ service that a judge may order, as well as enabling the Courts to consider community service in lieu of a sentence of up to 24 months, rather than the current 12 months. Where a court elects not to impose a community safety order in eligible cases, it is proposed that it will be obliged to give reasons for this.
Keeping contraband out of prison was also a key focus of the Minister’s address to the POA and its membership, and the Minister spoke about collaborative efforts between the Irish Prison Service and An Garda Síochána.
He continued, “The Irish Prison Service continues to work closely with An Garda Síochána on initiatives including Operation Throwover, which has had a lot of success in its goal to disrupt, interdict and prosecute attempts to introduce contraband into prisons.
Earlier this week, I was pleased to witness the signing of a formal Memorandum of Understanding between the Director General of the IPS Caron McCaffrey and the Garda Commissioner Drew Harris. This MOU will enable both agencies to collaborate more effectively across a range of areas including prison security, intelligence gathering, evidence preservation and data sharing. This collaboration will significantly help to prevent contraband entering prisons.”
“At every turn, the work we are doing is informed, supported and improved by representative groups like the Prison Officers Association and the invaluable perspective of our prison officers.
I will continue to listen and work with you to make our criminal justice system safer, fairer, and more effective in keeping Ireland a safe place”, he concluded
Minister O’Callaghan ended by once again thanking the POA for the critical role they play in the justice system, and committed to continuing to work closely with them to improve Irish prisons for both prisoners and prison officers.
Gardaí and the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) are investigating the sudden death of a 64 year old man, whose body was discovered on a farm near Ardfinnan in South Tipperary on Tuesday morning last, 29th April 2025.
Emergency services were called to the scene at around 11:30am, where the man locally named as Mathew ‘Mattie’ O’Brien, was pronounced dead.
Mr O’Brien was originally from Curanna, Golden in Co Tipperary, but he had been living with his partner Catherine at The Cross, Ardfinnan, South Co. Tipperary for a number of years.
His remains have since been removed to University Hospital Waterford to undergo a post-mortem examination, which will determine the direction of any further ongoing Garda investigations.
According to Gardaí, initial findings suggest no signs of foul play and one line of their inquiry suggests that Mr O’Brien may have fallen off a roof he was repairing.
The Health and Safety Authority (HSA) were notified and they have begun an inquiry into the incident. The local coroner has also been informed, and a report is expected to be compiled for the Coroner’s Court.
Mr O’Brien is survived by his partner Catherine, brothers William, John, Dermot and Tom, sister Mary, Catherine’s three children; Catriona, James and Joseph.
The remains of Mr O’Brien will repose at Costigan’s Funeral Home, Cahir, Co. Tipperary on Friday evening next, May 2nd, from 6:00pm until 7:30pm.
Requiem Mass for Mr O’Brien will be celebrated on Saturday May 3rd, at 2:00pm in St. Mary’s Church, Cahir, followed by interment in the adjoining graveyard.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.
Cabinet approval secured to progress legislation that will lead to the most significant reform of Irish asylum laws in the history of the Irish State, in line with the EU Migration and Asylum Pact.
This Pact is a new EU framework to manage migration and asylum for the long-term. The overall objective of the Pact is to provide a fair, sustainable and efficient asylum procedure. This will be achieved through convergence in asylum practices across the EU.
As part of this, the General Scheme of the International Protection Bill 2025 is intended to replace the International Protection Act 2015.
This approval by Cabinet will allow for the publication of the General Scheme and referral of the General Scheme to the relevant Oireachtas Committee for pre-legislative scrutiny and for the drafting of the new Bill.
The current international protection system is not working effectively, with decisions taking far too long. This Pact now offers an opportunity both here in Ireland and across the EU to reset the system and is an important next step in one of the most significant reforms of Irish asylum law in decades.
It is the governments belief that implementing a firmer migration system is now a key element in protecting the integrity of our immigration framework, while supporting those in need of international protection. This new legislation will facilitate the new changes that will be introduced.
These important changes are expected to include streamlining the decisions process; streamlining the returns process; a new ‘Border procedure’ with a three-month time limit for decisions, and a new institutional arrangements for international protection decisions and appeals.
It is also proposed that oral hearings of appeals will be significantly more limited than at present under the International Protection Act 2015. Fewer oral hearings at appeal stage will allow decisions to be made without the need for applicants, legal representatives and translators all to be present.
Appeal officers will make decisions based on the information on file, from the initial decision, and any additional written information submitted in the appeal process. This will drive efficiency and time savings. These reforms will continue to ensure the rights of applicants, under EU and Irish law, to be heard in the application process and to have an effective remedy in the appeal process.
These changes are ultimately about giving those who are entitled to international protection the opportunity to rebuild their lives here quickly and, at the same time, ensure faster removals in respect of those who do not meet the necessary criteria.
The proposed legislation delivers on the Programme for Government commitment to “Implement the new EU Migration and Asylum Pact through a new International Protection Act.”
Over the 2025 Easter bank holiday weekend, a Garda roads policing operation was put in place countrywide, between 7:00am on Thursday last, April 17th last, and 7:00am today, Tuesday, April 22nd. During this Garda Operation 2800 drivers were detected for speeding offences.
During the above stated period, sadly, there were three fatalities, including that of a four-year-old boy; together with 11 other serious traffic accidents on our Irish roads, resulting in a total of 12 persons being the subject of serious life-threatening injuries.
Police officers carried out more than 912 mandatory intoxicant testing checkpoints over the same stated holiday period, which saw some 4,500 breath tests and 213 oral fluid tests being performed; leading to 149 arrests for driving under the influence of an intoxicant.
Fixed Charge Offences detected during this period included:-
Divers exceeding the speed limit → 2800
No seatbelts → 73.
Using Mobile Phones → 225.
Unaccompanied learner drivers → at least 160.
Vehicles seized for having no tax or insurance → 438.
Vehicles seized from learner permit holders driving unaccompanied → 109.
Speeds detected in some county speed zones:-
110km/h in a 50Km/h zone on the Naas Road, Dublin 12, Co. Dublin.
165km/h in a 100Km/h zone on N18 Ballinacurra (Weston), in neighbouring Co Limerick.
179km/h in a 60km/h zone on R194 Granard, Co Longford.
139km/h in a 80km/h zone on R157 Dunboyne, Co Meath.
125km/h in a 50Km/h zone on R394 Milltown Castlepollard, Co. Westmeath.
80km/h in a 50km/h zone on Ballymount Road, Dublin 24
Families should note that one in three people, who have lost their lives on Irish roads this year, were under the age of 30 years.
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