157 Gardaí graduated yesterday at a ceremony held at the Garda College, Templemore, Co. Tipperary, bringing to approximately 323 the number of newly graduated members so far this year.
35% of the new recruits were women while 11% were born outside of Ireland.
At a graduation ceremony held at the Garda College in Templemore, Co. Tipperary yesterday, 157 newly-Garda members were welcomed by those in attendance. These new Garda members have now completed their training and will be assigned to Garda Divisions throughout the country.
Yesterday’s graduations now bring the total number of members of An Garda Síochána to over 14,000, up from 12,943 members in 2016. Of those graduating today, 53 members (35%) were women, while 17 members (11%) were born outside the Irish State.
It will come as no surprise that 103 of these probationer Gardaí have now been assigned to the Dublin Metropolitan Region (DMR); 38 to the Eastern Region; 11 to the Southern Region, and 6 to the North Western Region. Four of those graduating yesterday are former Garda Reserve members.
These additions in increased Garda membership should ensure that our communities continue to remain safe while granting An Garda Síochána the resources required to operate effectively. The budget, provided by taxpayers to the Garda Commissioner continues to increase to unprecedented levels, with an allocation of over €2.35 billion for 2024.
Yesterday was the second graduation to take place from the Garda College at Templemore in 2024, with a further graduation planned for September of this year.
An intake of 185 trainees entered the Garda College in April. This was the first of four intakes planned for April, July, September and December of this year.
Yet one other giant election poster has been located in Thurles town, Co. Tipperary, which should be recognised immediately as being currently in breach of the legislation governing election posters.
The Sinn Féin (better known as ‘The Angry Party’) poster advertises the availability of the now newly elected EU candidate Ms Kathleen Function, formerly Teachta Dála for Carlow–Kilkenny and wife of David Cullinane T.D of “Up the Republic, Up the ‘Ra and Tiocfaidh ár lá” fame, latter phrase understood to support the activities of the Provisional IRA.
The above poster photographed today appears to have broken at least 3 rules: (1). Legislation requires that every notice, bill, poster or similar document, having reference to a referendum or Dáil, Local or European Parliament election or distributed for the purpose of furthering the candidature of any candidate at an election, must have printed on its face the name and address of the printer. The omission of the name and address of the printer is an offence. Where a person is guilty of an offence, such person shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine or, at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for a period not exceeding three months or to both such a fine and such imprisonment. (2). Posters should be erected at a minimum height of 2.3 metres above any area to which pedestrians have access. (3). Any election/referendum posters in place after the stipulated time-frame are deemed to be in breach of the legislation and are subject to an on-the-spot litter fine of €150. The rules were made quite clear, prior to the election date; ‘All posters must be removed by “Friday 14th June 2024 (midnight)”. If posters are in place outside of this date, fines will be issued by the Council at the rate of €150 per poster.
Since this poster shown above also advertises the availability of now failed candidate, Senator Mr Paul Gavan, should the fine now be doubled?
On patrol this morning, Tipperary Roads Policing Unit; using their number plate recognition application system, identified an uninsured motor vehicle.
Pic: Courtesy An Garda Síochána, Tipperary.
When Gardai attempted to halt the vehicle the driver drove off before eventually loosing control of the car, colliding with a fence and narrowly missing a private residence. The learner driver who had no insurance and was unaccompanied, also failed a DrugWipe test; testing positive, on the roadside, for cocaine.
The motor vehicle which had a dangerous bald tyre and no valid NCT, has now been seized and the driver has been arrested.
Gardaí on patrol, in the Nenagh town area of North Co. Tipperary, observed and halted a motorist driving erratically over this weekend. The driver and vehicle posed a possible danger to other motorists.
Pic: Courtesy An Garda Síochána, Tipperary.
Upon enquiries, the driver was found to be disqualified from driving and was also deemed to be under the influence of drugs, having failed a DrugWipe test. The driver has now been charged to appear in Court.
Today a second iteration of the database of information on unidentified human remains, provided by coroners around the country, has been published. The database can be found online HERE.
Database information on unidentified human remains for Co. Tipperary relate currently to two sites, with 6 cases, in total, highlighted. One of these sites named is a very old graveyard, so findings while worthy of note, are not hardly surprising.
Visual records on the database, including some facial images and items found with remains, have now been included, where they have been provided by coroners, for the first time.
Coroners have been asked to include, in their 2023 return, visuals of distinctive items such as jewellery, clothing, tattoos etc., found with or on unidentified remains.
The Department of Justice received visual detail from four coronial districts comprising three facial images (inclusive of one facial reconstruction image) and two visuals of items found with the remains.
One new return in respect of partial remains; a skull fragment, discovered in Tra Ciaran, North Harbour, Cape Clear, Co Cork, on the 11th December 2021, (latter confirmed to be human remains) on the 30th October 2023, was made for 2023.
The database now contains details of 26 unidentified full remains, 20 unidentified partial remains and 16 historical remains.
The first iteration of the database was launched on 16th May 2023, following compilation and publication of the database for the first time.
As the data on unidentified human remains was being compiled, it emerged that a number of remains detailed on the database did not have corresponding DNA samples on the National DNA Database.
As DNA profiles are generated and uploaded onto the database, they will be regularly checked against all profiles of unidentified remains in the hope of locating a DNA match and establishing an identification.
Given the complexities associated with historical remains, this process is expected to take some time to complete. Three exhumations have been carried out to date and DNA samples has been extracted from two remains. Unfortunately, it has not yet been possible to identify the remains, but enquiries are ongoing into these and a number of other cases.
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