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- Commissioner to remain in office until September 1st 2025, while new successor is identified and appointed.
- Garda Board and Policing, Security and Community Safety Act (PCSA) to extend term of office.
The Irish Government, today, approved a proposal in principle to extend the term of office of Garda Commissioner Mr Drew Harris, until September 1st 2025.
The Commissioner was due to retire on June 1st 2025, however the selection competition for a successor will be ongoing at that point.
A proposal to extend his term has been approved in principle to provide certainty and stability pending the appointment of his successor. The process to extend the Garda Commissioner’s term is provided for in the recently commenced Policing, Security and Community Safety Act 2024.
The Government will now consult with the newly established Garda Board and Policing and Community Safety Authority, as provided for under the Act.
When this consultation is completed the Government will then make a formal decision to confirm the extension of the Commissioner’s term. Regulations providing for the new retirement date for the Commissioner will be brought to government for approval at the same time.
- Proceeds of crime invested back into local communities.
- Fund increases in size to €4 million.
The nationwide funding call for the Community Safety Fund 2025 is now open.
This annual fund allows for the proceeds of crime, seized by the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) and An Garda Síochána, to be directed into local projects to support and enhance community safety.
This year, €4 million is available, which is double the original allocation of €2 million when the fund first opened for applications in 2022, and grants range from €20,000 to €150,000.
The call for the Community Safety Fund is open for six weeks from today Monday April 7th, before closing on Friday May 16th next.
The Community Safety Fund will be managed by the newly established National Office for Community Safety within the Department of Justice.
The Fund:
- Allows proceeds of crime to be directed into projects to support and enhance community safety
- Ensures that the most appropriate proposals to improve community safety will access the funding they need
- Allows best practice on community safety and youth justice to be shared with other partnerships and communities nationally as new proposals are developed
- Benefits from the success of An Garda Síochána and the Criminal Assets Bureau in seizing the proceeds from criminal activity.
Projects that have previously benefited from the funding supported initiatives that:
- Reduce the fear of crime; improve community safety and feelings of safety.
- Support the creation of safe and resilient communities.
- Reduce reoffending.
- Divert vulnerable individuals away from engagement in criminal behaviour.
In 2024, over €3 million was allocated to projects nationwide. Themes from 2024 successful applicants included projects aimed at addressing anti-social behaviour, domestic violence, drug-related intimidation, social exclusion, youth programmes, prison post-release support.
Many of the projects focused on education, sport, recreation, and social interaction to proactively address safety concerns in communities.
Completed application forms must be returned by 5:00pm on Friday 16th May to CommunitySafetyFund@justice.ie
Supporting documentation, including the Application Form and Guidance Document are available HERE.
All documents must be downloadable.
A former Tipperary native and financial advisor now residing at Richmond Avenue, Dartry, Dublin 6, who lost around €2 million of property investors’ funds in unauthorised stock market transactions has been jailed for six years.
Aged 52 years Mr William Kiely appeared at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court earlier this year, but changed his plea to guilty on the 21st day of his trial. He pleaded guilty to three counts of dishonestly appropriating money from the accounts of Barrington Capital Ltd, between 2007 and 2010. Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that the theft involved $1.47 million and around €700,000.
Mr Kiely also pleaded guilty to knowingly carrying on the business of a company, (Barrington Capital Limited), with intent to defraud creditors between July 2008 and February 2010. He further pleaded guilty to falsifying a financial statement on March 12th, 2010.
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that Mr Kiely set up a legitimate investment operation, the aforementioned Barrington Capital Ltd, to purchase commercial property in the United States of America. Following the 2008 global financial crash, he failed to return all of the money which had been intended to purchase property; instead and without investor authorisation used some of it on the stock market, which was unsuccessful.
Having heard the facts of the case on Friday last, Judge Elma Sheahan stated that Mr Kiely had a high degree of culpability; the financial losses they suffered and the impact on their emotional well-being were all aggravating factors in the case and the harm caused to the injured parties was truly significant. The court heard that much of the funds went towards lifestyle expenses unrelated to the business and Kiely had also paid himself an amount each month. Mr Kiely also falsified a financial statement back in March 2010, which set out expenses on the account and what was left, however, at this point the funds were completely depleted.
Mr Kiely received a six year jail sentence and has also been automatically disqualified from serving as a director of any company for five years.
The graduation of 123 Prison Officers took place yesterday at the Print Works, Dublin Castle.
The new officers have now completed their Higher Certificate of Arts in Custodial Care (HCCC), developed and delivered jointly by the Irish Prison Service and South East Technological University (SETU).
This graduating class form part of the Irish Prison Service’s latest recruitment drive. They have already been allocated tn prisons throughout the State, including the Operational Support Group and the Prison Service Escort Corp.
This week’s graduation ceremony marks the formal recognition of the new officers’ academic achievement.
Recognising the crucial role played by prison officers in delivering an important public service, President of SETU, Professor Veronica Campbell emphasised the need to provide a high standard of training and education to support them:- “In light of this, the Irish Prison Service and SETU have created a collaborative work-based programme that develops the reflective, theoretical and practical skills of the Recruit Prison Officer. With over 900 Recruit Prison Officers having successfully completed the programme since 2017, including the 123 graduates who were awarded a Higher Certificate of Arts in Custodial Care at Dublin Castle this evening, SETU’s partnership with the Irish Prison Service is a prime example of our connectivity with our region, firmly aligned with our strategic goals in the provision of educational experiences that are student centred and responsive to learner needs.
I extend my sincere congratulations to this year’s graduates on their academic achievements. This milestone is a testament to the hard work you have invested in earning your qualification.”
The Higher Certificate in Custodial Care is a two-year part-time programme designed to develop the professional competencies of Prison Service staff in working with prisoners. The HCCC is intended to facilitate a greater understanding of how officers can confront challenges through the exploration of different subjects including, Resilience, Mental Health, Social Psychology and Human Rights.
After initial training, RPOs are appropriated to a prison, with assignments based on the security and operational needs of each individual prison.
A Tipperary man has been jailed for 10 years, with a one-year post-release supervision order, for the rape of a female acquaintance whom he had collected from hospital, in the early hours of the morning.
The victim had been out socialising on the night in question and had fallen, before being conveyed to hospital by ambulance for observation.
Mr Padraic Troy, aged 29 years, of Golden Gardens, Dundrum Co. Tipperary, was convicted following a trial at the Central Criminal Court, of two counts of rape, anal rape and two sexual assaults of the woman back in 2021.
While at the hospital, the victim had telephoned several people, including contacting Mr Troy, seeking assistance. Mr Troy had arrived at the hospital after 3:00am, and she had accepted transport in his company and in the company of another male.
The first sexual assault by Mr Troy occurred while in the car. It was there that he began kissing her, leaving the victim feeling disgusted, while she impressed on him her willingness only to return home.
On returning home the victim was assisted inside. The second male left, leaving her on her own with Mr Troy, who then raped her, anally raped and sexually assaulted her in her bedroom.
On the following day, the victim reported on what had happened to the Gardaí, before being examined at a Sexual Assault Treatment Unit. A DNA profile matching Mr Troy was identified from her under garments.
Mr Troy, when interviewed later by Gardaí, claimed he had been involved in consensual sex only with the victim.
Passing sentence, Ms Justice Melanie Greally stated that the multiplicity of distinct violations and the degree of physical force used; the victims vulnerability at the time of the incident and the overall impact on the victim were among the most aggravating of the factors in the case.
Mr Troy already had 20 previous convictions; these included theft, public order offences, assault and road traffic offences.
The court also heard that the victim wished for Mr Troy to be publicly named, while the victim herself, wished to maintain her anonymity.
Ms Justice Greally wished the victim well for the future and expressed the court’s hope that her continued recovery, from this experience, would endure.
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