|
|
- Trinidad and Tobago to be added to list of visa required countries.
- Brings Irish visa requirements in line with the United Kingdom.
Minister for Justice, Mr Jim O’Callaghan TD, and Minister of State for Migration, Mr Colm Brophy TD, have today (Friday 9 May 2025) announced that nationals of Trinidad and Tobago will be required to obtain a visa before travelling to Ireland. These requirements will apply from May 12th 2025. A transit visa will also be required, if the person intending to transit through Ireland, if enroute to another destination.
Commenting on this announcement, Minister O’Callaghan said:
“Visa requirements are an effective screening measure to determine who can travel to Ireland. They bolster the security of our borders while permitting travel to Ireland for legitimate purposes.
To minimise disruption, my officials will have transitional measures for those with existing travel arrangements in the next few weeks.”
Irish visa requirements are kept under ongoing review, having regard to the need to ensure that effective immigration controls are in place whilst also facilitating those who wish to travel to Ireland for the purposes of a visit, to work, to study or to join family members.
Commenting on this announcement, Minister Colm Brophy added:
“This is a carefully considered decision which will bring Ireland into closer alignment with the United Kingdom. While Ireland will continue to operate an independent visa regime, keeping in step with the requirements of the United Kingdom protects our Common Travel Area and dissuades irregular movements.”
Nationals of Trinidad and Tobago who made travel plans prior to May 12th 2025 and who can provide evidence of a valid booking and payment for the trip, may be accommodated for emergency travel in the following situations where the scheduled travel is on or before May 31st 2025:-
- A critical medical case involving a family member being seriously ill or undergoing medical treatment. Evidence from the relevant medical institution must be provided.
- Visiting for a significant family event – a birth, wedding, or funeral. Suitable evidence must be provided.
- Taking up a place obtained in a third-level institution on an undergraduate or post-graduate degree course. Evidence must be provided from the relevant institution.
- Taking up employment and holding an Employment Permit for Ireland. Evidence of the permit issued by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment must be provided.
- Travelling for business. Confirmation of the arrangements for the visit from the business in question must be provided.
Persons falling within the above categories are asked to email becoming_visarequired@justice.ie with the subject line “Visa Required – Emergency Travel Requested”.
Since the beginning of last week Revenue officers have seized contraband with an estimated value of some €355,000. The seizures were made in various operations in Tipperary, Dublin, the Midlands, and at Rosslare Europort.
The detections were made as a result of risk profiling and intelligence led operations, and included some 5.4kg of herbal cannabis, with an estimated value of €108,600; some 5,200 mixed tablets, with an estimated value of €10,300; cash to the value of €42,750, and some 561 counterfeit items, estimated in value at some €178,000.
Revenue detector dogs Ciara and Enzo discovered herbal cannabis and mixed tablets, while Revenue officers were examining parcels in Dublin and the Midlands. Same had been sent from France, India, and Holland and were destined for various addresses nationwide on the island of Ireland.
Ten weapons were also seized in searches in the Midlands, and separately, tobacco and alcohol products with an estimated value of almost €14,000, (representing a potential loss to the Exchequer of over €10,400), were seized in various operations in Co. Tipperary, the Midlands and in Co. Wexford.
The counterfeit goods seized were confirmed by the Rights Holder to have seriously infringed on Intellectual Property Rights.
During the operation in Co. Tipperary, Revenue officers seized cash to the value of €42,750 during the search of a property using a search warrant. On Friday last May 2nd 2025, Revenue officers were granted a 3 month detention order, in respect of the aforementioned cash, by order of Mr Justice Brian O’Shea at Clonmel District Court, South Co. Tipperary.
If affected businesses or members of the public, have any further information regarding such activities, they should contact Revenue officers, in strictest confidence, on Tel: 1800 295 295.
All the above seizures were part of Revenue’s ongoing operations targeting smuggling and shadow economy activities and further investigations remain ongoing.
- 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.
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.
|
Support Us Help keep Thurles.info online by donating below. Thank you.
Total Donated 2025: €130.00
Thank You!
Daily Thurles Mass Livestream
|
Recent Comments