Thurles Information

Death Of Lloyd Mullen, Formerly Thurles, Co. Tipperary.

It was with a great sadness that we learned of the death, on Tuesday 15th April 2025, of Mr Lloyd Mullen, formerly of Holycross, Thurles, Co. Tipperary.

In his 95 year and pre-deceased by his parents George & Frances, (Holycross, Thurles, Co. Tipperary) and twin sister Ruby; Mr Mullen passed away peacefully at his place of ordinary residence in Croydon, England, surrounded by his loving family.

His passing is most deeply regretted, sadly missed and lovingly remembered by his sorrowing family; loving wife Promilla, daughter Cherry (Blundell), son-in-law, adored grandchildren Hazel and Timothy, extended relatives, neighbours and friends.

The extended Mullen family wish to express their appreciation for your understanding at this difficult time, and have made arrangements for those persons wishing to send messages of condolence, to use the link shown HERE.

“Nearer my God to thee.”

Train Collides With Car At North Tipperary Level Crossing.

The 9:00am Ballybrophy to Limerick (via Nenagh) train; same carrying 16 passengers and two crew members; (the driver and a ticket checker), were on board the train, which collided with a motor vehicle on the user-operated level crossing, just west of Nenagh town at around 10:00am this morning.

It is understood that two persons were seated in the car at the time of the collision, but reports state that while they suffered from severe shock, thankfully neither were otherwise seriously injured. Passenger on board the train are also understood to have received no serious injuries.

Emergency services, including Gardaí, were alerted and attended at the scene, while later a bus was arranged to transfer train passengers to their original destinations.
The Railway Accident Investigation Unit at the Department of Transport were also notified.

Advertising Of “Sex In Lieu Of Rent”, To Become Criminal Offence.

Introduce two specific criminal offences around ‘Sex for Rent’.
Amend legislation on disclosure of counselling records in sexual assault trials.

The Minister for Justice, Mr Jim O’Callaghan TD, today secured Government approval for the drafting of legislation which responds to a range of pressing challenges for the criminal justice system, one of which we already published HERE

The proposed legislation also includes measures to criminalise the exploitative practice of seeking sex in lieu of rent and to ensure that counselling records are only released where the Court decides that they contain material relevant to legal proceedings.

The General Scheme of the Criminal Law and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025 will now be referred to the Justice Committee for pre-legislative scrutiny and, when its report is received, work on finalising the Bill will be prioritised.

Separately, it is proposed to introduce two specific criminal offences around ‘sex for rent’ (offering accommodation in exchange for sex) and the advertising of accommodation in exchange for sex.

The provisions encompass both rental agreements between landlords and tenants, and ‘rent-a-room’ situations. It is the offer or advertisement that is being criminalised – there is no requirement to prove that sexual activity occurred. The proposed penalty for these offences is a Class A fine of up to €5,000.

Another measure in the proposed legislation that will strengthen laws in the Domestic, Sexual and Gender Based Violence area concerns new Bail restrictions on those accused of coercive control or imposing forced marriage.
Under the Bill, the two offences would be added to the schedule of the Bail Act 1997. This means that, under the new terms of an amended Bail Act, a court could refuse an application for bail made by a person charged with coercive control or forced marriage, if it considers it necessary to prevent that person committing a serious offence.

The General Scheme can be read in full HERE.

Irish Government Set To Approve Legislation Re. Face Covering.

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.)