Three Palestine solidarity activists, from the Galway Palestine Solidarity Campaign were expected to appear at Nenagh District Court, North Co. Tipperary yesterday evening at 5:00pm, having been charged by Gardaí following a protest at Shannon Airport.
The three activists; two females and one male, all aged in their 30s, engaged in direct action they claimed, to mark ‘Land Day‘, on Saturday morning March 30th, and were arrested by Gardaí, when they attempted to block two US military planes.
All three approached the US military planes, waving a flag of Palestine and displaying a banner that stated: ‘US military out of Shannon’.
They were quickly arrested by Gardaí for public order offences, before being detained at a Garda Station in Co Clare.
Odour and Noise Complaints accounted for 90% of all complaints to the EPA in 2023.
The EPA carried out over 1,200 inspections at 535 licensed industrial and waste facilities. 91% of these were unannounced.
The Licence & Enforcement Access Portal (LEAP) launched in 2023 giving the public enhanced access to environmental information.
The EPA identified 11 sites as National Priority Sites for enforcement in 2023. Most were in the food and drink sector (five sites) and waste sector (three sites).
Enforcement activities by the EPA have resulted in a decrease in complaints, down 36% from 2021. Odour and Noise Complaints accounted for 90% of all complaints received by the EPA in 2023.
22 prosecutions were concluded in 2023 resulting in fines of €137,750 and costs of €245,047 being imposed.
2023 saw the first successful District Court Prosecution for the extraction of peat without a licence from the EPA.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has today published its Industrial and Waste Licence Enforcement Summary 2023. The report gives details of enforcement activities across the 889 licensed facilities in 2023.
In 2023, the EPA carried out over 1,200 inspections at 535 licensed industrial and waste facilities. Of these, 91% were unannounced. Enforcement action by the EPA has resulted in a decrease in complaints to the EPA about these sites, down 36% from 2021 from 1490 to 960. Odour and Noise complaints remained the most common in 2023, accounting for 90% of all complaints received.
Commenting on the report, Dr Tom Ryan, (Director of the EPA’s Office of Environmental Enforcement) said: “The increased focus on the improvement of odour and noise management at EPA licensed sites has resulted in a significant reduction in the number of complaints received. The EPA will maintain a focus on nuisance arising from licensed sites and will take enforcement action, where appropriate. The launch of the Licence & Enforcement Access Portal (LEAP) has transformed the way in which the public can access environmental information concerning licensed sites with already almost 100,000 page views in 2023. 2023 saw the first successful District Court Prosecution for the extraction of peat without a licence from the EPA, and 22 prosecutions were completed last year.”
The EPAs National Priority Sites List is another important tool assisting the EPA in targeting its enforcement effort at the licensed operators with the poorest environmental performance. This helps drive improvements in environmental compliance. Since its launch in 2017, fifty sites have been identified as National Priority Sites, with 11 sites on the list in 2023. These were mostly in the food and drink sector (5 sites) and waste sector (3 sites). Industrial and waste compliance information and further details of the National Priority Sites scoring system and the list of sites can be found online.
Enforcement information on all sites can be found on the Licence & Enforcement Access Portal (LEAP) LEAP Online (epa.ie) Complaints about licensed sites can be made on-line or by contacting the EPA at Tel: 053-9160600.
Yesterday morning, 166 new members joined the Irish Garda Síochána police force.
Garda Intake Class No 233.
Intake No 233, having commenced their training on July 31st, 2023, have now completed their Phase 1, Stage 3 training at the Garda Training College, situated in Templemore, Co. Tipperary, and have taken their Oath.
Attestation Oath “I hereby solemnly and sincerely declare before God [Words “before God” may be omitted from the declaration at the request of the declarant] that:- * I will faithfully discharge the duties of a member of the Garda Síochána with fairness, integrity, regard for human rights, diligence and impartiality, upholding the Constitution and the laws and according equal respect to all people. * While I continue to be a member, I will, to the best of my skill and knowledge, discharge all my duties according to law. * I do not belong to, and will not while I remain a member form, belong to or subscribe to, any political party or secret society whatsoever”.
The Garda “Attestation Oath”, above, is sworn by all members of An Garda Siochana and the Garda Reserve.
Garda Sergeant Ciaran Whelan, aged 51 years, an officer in Store Street Station in central Dublin, with an address in Nenagh, North Co. Tipperary, has appeared in court charged with multiple criminal offences.
Sgt. Whelan, one of a number of police officers who appeared on the RTÉ show ‘The Guards’, latter a documentary on inner city front line policing, will stand trial accused of the false imprisonment of a woman; perverting the course of justice, and burglary in Dublin.
In all, Sergeant Whelan faces seven charges, which include:-
Two charges of burglary; one at a property on Kenilworth Road, Dublin 6, on June 19th, 2021, and also a flat in Mountjoy Square North, Dublin 1.
Four charges of perverting the course of justice; amending the Garda Pulse system on September 27th, 2021; printing and creating a search warrant on August 28th, 2021; making a false report between August 25th, 2021 and September 15, 2021 to a superintendent with intent to pervert the course of justice regarding the search of the property at Kenilworth Road, Dublin 6, that took place on June 19, 2021, and creating an incident on Pulse on August 28th, 2021 in relation to a search on Kenilworth Road that took place on June 19th, 2021
One charge of false imprisonment of a woman at St John’s Road West, Dublin 8, on September 7, 2021. These offences are alleged to have taken place in different parts of Dublin between June and September of the same year.
The Garda Anti-Corruption Unit have been investigating the activities of a particular Garda unit based in the Dublin region. Sgt Whelan was arrested at 9:57am on March 11th last, at Irishtown Garda Station in south central Dublin and was charged at the same location at 10:08am.
The Director of Public Prosecutions has directed that the case should be heard in front of a judge and jury at the circuit court.
Two other Gardai, namely Garda Mark Duffy, (with an address in west Co. Dublin), and Garda Colum Ryan (with an address in Co. Meath), have both also appeared in court in connection with this same investigation.
On Wednesday last, a former Labour Party Councillor and Peace Commissioner, latter named as Mr Steven Wrenn, aged 50 years, was also in court accused with forging warrants to search two properties; a basement flat at Mountjoy Square, Dublin and property at Kenilworth Road, Dublin 6, thus twice perverting the course of public justice by signing same warrants.
Last St Patrick’s weekend, drugs with a value at some €18,000 were seized in the Borrisokane area of North Co. Tipperary.
The drugs; suspected herbal cannabis, were located following a search operation by Gardaí that took place on the afternoon of Saturday, March 16th last.
We understand that Gardaí have also arrested a man, aged in his 40s in connection with the seizure.
The, as yet, unnamed offender has since been charged and is expected to appear before a sitting of Co. Tipperary’s Nenagh District Court.
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