Mrs Mary Lowry, aged 57 years, with an address at Green Road, Dundrum, Co Tipperary; latter previously a witness who was central to the Mr Moonlight murder trial, today received a fully suspended one year jail sentence and a one year driving ban. Mrs Lowry had previously admitted to a charge of careless driving, while in control of a Volkswagen Passat motor vehicle, which had, sadly, caused the death of father-of-five, named as Mr Patrick Connolly, at around 12:45pm on December 28th, 2021 last.
The fatal collision had occurred on the N24 Waterford to Limerick road, close to an entrance to Bansha Wood, Spring House, Bansha, Co Tipperary.
Mrs Lowry wept silently in court as her barrister, Mr Pádraig de Búrca (BL), read a letter of apology penned by Mrs Lowry to the deceased man’s family, seeking their forgiveness.
The court was informed that Mrs Lowry had waited for other traffic travelling on the N24 to pass by the entrance to Bansha Woods, and on believing the coast was fully clear, turned out of the entrance onto the N24, colliding with a motorcycle being driven by Mr Connolly, latter who was carrying his son on the pillion. Both had been participating in a charity bike event.
A Garda forensic report into the collision stated that road conditions and visibility were both good on the date in question, but that Mrs Lowry had failed to yield to traffic travelling on that stretch of roadway. This report also stated that Mr Connolly might have been more visible to Mrs Lowry, had he been wearing a high visibility jacket at the time of the tragic incident.
Senior counsel Mr Colman Cody stated that Mrs Lowry was a volunteer support worker with cancer patients and people with disabilities; herself having lost her own husband tragically to cancer, and he argued before Judge Ms Catherine Staines that jailing her would serve no real purpose.
The case concluded with Mrs Lowry thanking the judge, before leaving the court in obvious distress.
Tipperary Roads Policing Unit Host Seminar For Secondary School Students In Garda Training College, Templemore, Co. Tipperary earlier this week.
Tipperary Roads Policing Unit hosted a seminar in the Garda Training College in Templemore, Co. Tipperary earlier this week. Same was attended by some 400 students from Secondary schools across the towns of Thurles, Templemore and Roscrea in north Co. Tipperary.
The Lifesaver Project #BeALifesaver was presented by the Tipperary Road Safety Team consisting of; Garda Anastasia Murphy, Garda Eamonn Rhatigan, Garda Jamie Ryan and Garda Kevin McGuinness.
Two crash survivors, namely Mr Barry Murphy and Ms Gráinne Kealy, very kindly shared their personal experiences with the assembled student cohort.
The event was also attended by the ‘Road Safety Authority of Ireland’, who provided students with Virtual Reality Simulations. Tipperary Roads Policing Unit, demonstrated the latest in vehicles and the technology used, as part of their daily policing duties which generated huge interaction from all participants.
A 41-year-old male, named as Mr Edward O’Shea, with an address at St John’s Park, Castleisland, Co. Kerry, has appeared before Killarney District Court charged with assault causing harm to a male and female, together with aggravated burglary and the production of a device in the course of a dispute, on Monday March 11th last.
The woman involved, aged in her 30s, was removed to University Hospital Kerry for treatment for stab wounds, which are not believed to be life-threatening.
The court was informed that all three persons; both the accused and the injured couple, were known to each other.
The accused, Mr O’Shea, who appeared before Mr Justice David Waters, made no reply to the charges against him, however, Gardaí made no objection to bail.
Granting bail, Mr Justice Waters set down strict conditions. Mr O’Shea is to reside at an address at Village Road, Kilcommon Cross, Thurles, Co Tipperary and must sign on at Thurles Garda Station at weekends (Saturday and on Sunday). He is also not to enter Castleisland and he must have no contact, either direct or indirect, with witnesses or the injured parties. He must also be contactable by Gardaí at all times on his mobile phone. The matter will be forwarded for directions from the DPP to decide on jurisdiction.
Retirement age of An Garda Síochána to increase from 60 to 62 years.
Extension will further support An Garda Síochána with the resources they need.
Additional measures to support recruitment into uniformed services to be considered.
Total gross allocation for Garda force in 2024 is €2.31 billion, an increase of over €172 million on 2023, the highest ever Garda Budget.
The next intake to the Garda College in Templemore, Co. Tipperary is scheduled for April 8th 2024.
Another 174 Garda Members are due to attest on March 22nd 2024.
Since 2020 approval has been granted for over 150 retirement extensions for Garda members, at the request of the Garda Commissioner; to work beyond the age of 60.
The Minister for Justice, MrsHelen McEntee T.D, along with An Tánaiste and Minister for Defence Mr Micheál Martin TD and the Minister for Public Expenditure Mr Paschal Donohoe T.D. have received Government approval to increase the mandatory retirement age in An Garda Síochána, the Defence Forces and the Irish Prison Service.
The increased mandatory retirement age in the uniformed services will be facilitated by amendments to the relevant pension legislation, to be brought forward by Minister Donohoe.
Speaking today, Minister McEntee said: “This increase in the mandatory retirement age from 60 to 62 is just one measure I am taking to support An Garda Síochána, as this Government demonstrates its determination to build stronger, safer communities. We know a strong An Garda Síochána is central to that and in order to keep it strong, it is important that we retain the knowledge and expertise of experienced people where possible. In addition, increasing the mandatory retirement age reflects the reality across all sectors that people can and want to work in their chosen careers for longer. We are immensely grateful to our Gardaí and Prison Officers for their outstanding dedication and commitment to serving the public and for the vital role that they play in keeping people safe. I will continue to engage with Minister Donohue and the Tánaiste over the coming weeks to support this legislation and we will continue to explore any additional measures to support recruitment into An Garda Síochána and all our uniformed services”.
Both Minister McEntee and the Garda Commissioner have agreed that An Garda Síochána should grow to 15,000 and beyond. To reach that target, the government will continue to consider all additional measures to progress and enhance recruitment over the coming months.
Yesterday’s decision follows from other recent changes introduced to ensure that An Garda Síochána have the resources they need to keep people safe. This includes a record Budget allocation of over €2.35 billion, increasing the maximum age of entry to 50 and boosting the training allowance by 66% to €305 per week. This year’s Garda recruitment competition also received almost 6,400 applications, a significant increase on the 5,000 applications last year.
At present, retirement of members of An Garda Síochána is governed by law, which sets the mandatory retirement age for all members at 60 years of age.
The Minister for Justice Mrs Helen McEntee TD has launched a new All Island Community Safety Network.
The project is being funded through the Community Safety Innovation Fund, which seeks to reinvest seized proceeds of crime directly back into projects, to improve community safety.
Community Safety is a priority topic at both national and local levels and this Network will facilitate the sharing of ideas, good practice, and projects in relation to Community Safety and Policing engagement across the island of Ireland, both North and South. The Network will offer communities an opportunity to hear first-hand about the successes of other groups across the entire island and offer them the chance to shine a light on their own examples of effective collaborative community safety projects that might be mirrored elsewhere.
The establishment of this network is timely given the recent enactment of the Policing, Security and Community Safety Act, which allows for the establishment of Local Community Safety Partnerships on a nationwide basis. The project builds on the project partners’ previous experience collaborating on Beyond Borders: The All-Island Community Safety Conference held in November 2022, when over 300 attendees from both jurisdictions came together to get an insight into best practice in Community Safety; not only from Ireland but further afield.
The Network is a collaboration between Longford Community Safety Partnership, Drogheda Implementation Board and Newry Mourne and Down Policing and Community Safety Partnership.
Current and new Local Community Safety Partnerships in Ireland; Policing and Community Safety Partnerships in Northern Ireland; Joint Policing Committees; alongside relevant statutory and community organisations, will be invited to participate in Network events and activities.
Minister McEntee said: “Community safety is about people being safe and feeling safe in their communities. Local communities, key workers in the area and local representatives are often best placed to know and identify issues that will improve community safety in their areas. But learning from what has worked in other communities is also important, so that best practice can be mainstreamed. This all-Island network will allow statutory and community partners to hear about examples of effective collaborative community safety projects and to develop better cross border relationships to enhance community safety across the island of Ireland. I am delighted to launch the Network today, wish the project partners well and look forward to seeing the initiatives and project concepts which emerge positively impacting communities across Ireland”.
Ms Martina Maloney, (Chair of Longford Community Safety Partnership), speaking at the launch commented: “The high numbers of attendees at Beyond Borders, coupled with the very positive feedback we received from attendees showed us that there is a desire for more opportunities to share learning and gain insights into best practice in Community Safety across the island of Ireland. Indeed a number of community safety projects emerged from the event, including the delivery of Kids’ Courts by Longford Community Safety Partnership alongside An Garda Síochána and local primary schools; and a collaborative youth drug prevention programme delivered by Foróige and Youth Work Ireland Louth in Drogheda. We greatly appreciate funding from the Department of Justice which has enabled us to establish this Network and continue to bring together Community Safety practitioners from both North and South of the Border. We will be hosting a series of thematic events in 2024 and 2025 on topics relating to Community Safety that are of importance to people in our own communities and beyond –Domestic, Sexual and Gender Based Violence; community led Crime Prevention; Road Safety and more – and will also be establishing a Practitioner Forum to provide peer supports to individuals and agencies involved in Community Safety structures.”
Councillor Ms Oonagh Hanlon, (Chairperson of Newry, Mourne & Down Policing & Community Safety Partnership) said: “Collaborative working and shared learning is vitally important in tackling crime across both jurisdictions. The All Island Community Safety Network provides a unique opportunity to raise awareness of the work of our Policing and Community Safety Partnerships (PCSPs) and Community Safety Partnerships (CSPs); to share learning and allow us to build and maintain the relationships which are critical to this work as we strive to make our communities as safe as possible”.
The first event, focusing on policy and practice relating to Domestic, Sexual and Gender Based Violence is being hosted by Drogheda Implementation Board on Tuesday 12th March 2024. Policy makers and practitioners from across Ireland will be in attendance. Enquiries relating to this event should be directed to Drogheda Implementation Board at implementationboard@lmetb.ie.
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