Tag Archives: garda

The Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Shane Ross has today (Wednesday) announced the commencement of the drug driving provisions in the Road Traffic Act 2016. One of the key measures in the legislation provides for preliminary drug testing, which will enable gardaí to test motorists whom they suspect of driving under the influence of drugs at the roadside. The new garda powers mean gardaí can now establish roadside checkpoints, mandatory impairment checkpoints (MIT), to test drivers for the presence of both alcohol and drugs. The new drug testing devices (Dräger DrugTest 5000) involve testing a sample of a driver’s saliva for the presence of cannabis, cocaine, opiates (e.g. heroin, morphine) and benzodiazepines (e.g. valium). The new devices will also be available in Garda stations. The MBRS has found that of the 3,020 specimens of blood and urine that it received in 2016, 24% confirmed positive for drugs other than alcohol. Of these, 91% were specimens from male drivers, most …

NEXT Wednesday, there will be an open day at Shannon Garda Station, from 12 noon to 3pm. Garda Ailish Hanley said there will be a lot of items on display in the station for the occasion and all are welcome. “It’s an open day and there will be few of the national units down,” she explained. “The mounted unit are coming down with the horses; we will have the Order of Malta here; the motorbikes will be over from Ennis and, obviously, our patrol cars and vans and that. It’ll be kind of a family day to open up the station for people to see the equipment that is there and to meet the gardaí working in Shannon.” There will be activities for children, such as face-painting and a bouncy castle, but she said there will also be plenty to interest the adults present. “Anyone is welcome. People mightn’t have much contact with the guards and it’s to open the …

CLARE Garda Chief Superintendent John Kerin has said if it emerges that gardaí in this county contributed to the false reporting of one million fake alcohol breath tests, “maximum sanctions” will be applied. Politicians have called for the resignation of Garda Commissioner Noirín O’Sullivan in recent days following the latest garda scandal involving the recording, nationally, of one million breath tests that never took place. On Wednesday, Chief Superintendent Kerin told The Clare Champion that he did not yet have figures for Clare but accepted that fake breath tests are very likely to have taken place in the county. “We’re hoping to be given a breakdown about where this happened across the country and in what areas. I really don’t know the extent of it in Clare but if it’s a countrywide thing, there is no doubt it would have gone on in Clare. “If it has happened in Clare, I will be seriously hurt and disappointed. If I can …

Gardaí targeting the sale and supply of controlled drugs in Ennis have seized cocaine and cannabis following a planned operation today (Thursday). Shortly after midday, members of Clare Drugs Divisional Unit discovered a significant quantity of cocaine, with an estimated value in excess of €60,000, and cannabis, with an estimated value in excess of €20,000, pending analysis, in an open area near Clonmore Road. Follow up searches and investigation are currently taking place and a man in his 30s has been arrested and is currently in custody at Ennis Garda Station under Section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking ) Act 1996.

Gardaí in the Clare Division are actively engaged in the month-long ‘Streetwise’ campaign, which is designed to promote personal safety advice. According to Clare crime prevention officer, Sergeant Joe Downey, this initiative, which is also being promoted at national level, aims to further reduce thefts, robberies and assaults through crime prevention, law enforcement, education and awareness. The campaign focuses on three main segments – planning a night out; protection of mobile phone thefts, which accounts for 65% of thefts and robberies and staying safe from assaults. Sergeant Downey said that particular emphasis will be placed on communicating to the general public a strong personal safety message in advance of and after St Patrick’s Day celebrations. “Our aim will be high-visibility patrolling, crime prevention and engaging with the public, and raising their awareness on methods to prevent such crimes, as thefts and assaults,” he added. Sergeant Downey said people planning a night out should make transport arrangements in advance to get …

A BRAZILIAN native has admitted charges of brothel keeping in Ennis and Limerick, after three Romanian women in their 20s were found to be operating as prostitutes from an Ennis apartment last summer. The court heard that following a surveillance operation, gardaí entered a flat on Bindon Lane in Ennis, where they found a customer having sex with one of the women. Aulicete Camargo Walsh, 53, of Breskabeg, Clarina, County Limerick appeared before Ennis District Court on Wednesday charged with two counts of brothel keeping and one of using a false instrument. She was charged that being the tenant/lessee/occupier/person-in-charge of a premises at 18 Bank Square, Bindon Lane, she knowingly permitted it to be used as a brothel for the purpose of habitual prostitution on May 9 last. She is also charged with using a Portuguese driving licence, which she knew to be a false instrument. The accused is also charged with running a brothel at 6 Crosley House, Dock …

A 32-year-old man is to appear before a sitting of Ennis District Court this morning (Thursday) charged in connection with an armed robbery at a retail outlet in Bunratty, County Clare. An investigation commenced at approximately 2.30pm yesterday when a lone male entered a retail outlet in Blarney armed with a knife. He threatened staff before leaving the scene on foot with a small amount of cash. No one was physically injured during the incident. During a follow up operation involving gardaí attached to Shannon Garda Station, a 32-year-old man was arrested a short time later. A small amount of cash and a knife were recovered. A car was also seized as part of the investigation. The arrested man was taken to Ennis Garda Station where he was detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984 for questioning. The investigation is ongoing.

TWO people involved in last year’s general election in Clare were referred to gardaí, after a failure to furnish donation statements/statutory declarations. The Standards in Public Office Commission sent 66 files to An Garda Síochána, including ones on Niamh O’Brien, Fís Nua’s candidate for Clare and her election agent, Greim na hEaladh. Ms O’Brien said she actually believed she had returned the required documents and she expects the matter will be sorted out easily. “I actually thought I had returned documents and they didn’t get them. Tony Mulqueen (Commissioner for Oaths) will tell you I was up with him signing them. I’m going to have to fill them out again. I’m not one bit worried about it or bothered about it; it’s not as if there are big, brown envelopes coming my way. I wouldn’t have received anything over €100 so it’s all very basic.” Ms O’Brien said she has spoken to gardaí about the issue in recent days and …