Tag Archives: An Garda Síochána

AS thousands of people walked through the streets of Ennis to show their support for Darkness Into Light and Pieta House, callous thieves stole from the charity and are continuing to do so, in what has been described as a “heartbreak”. A collection bucket was stolen in the early hours of Saturday morning, May 12 and unsuspecting members of the public are now being targeted by fake collections. Reports have already been received by the Darkness Into Light organising committee in Ennis of a number of fraudulent bucket collections in the county town, Bunratty and Corofin. The matter has been reported to An Garda Síochána and the charity is appealing to members of the public who might suspect a fake collection, that they contact the gardaí. It is understood that the collections are being carried out by a male teenager wearing a blue Pieta House t-shirt. Councillor Mary Howard, one of the organising committee of Darkness Into Light, said, “Pieta …

THE Civil Defence unit in Clare is among the most active in the country, with members taking part in 32 different activities in the first three months of the year. Civil Defence volunteers are on standby to assist in a range of activities – from missing person searches to manning sporting events. In fact, one of the roles played by the Clare Civil Defence this year related to a search for a missing person in Clarecastle on January 30. The overall figures were confirmed just days after all of the country’s response agencies were honoured at Dublin Castle for their response to Storm Emma and Storm Ophelia. Among the workers present at the event on Tuesday were staff from Clare County Council, the Defence Forces, Civil Defence, National Ambulance Service, Irish Water, the Coastguard, An Garda Síochána, the HSE, the ESB, the fire service and other volunteer groups. It was confirmed at the event that the first Saturday of September will now be known …

May I, as President of Ireland, mar Uachtarán na hÉireann, send you my warmest wishes for a peaceful and a Happy Christmas and New Year. Christmas is a time when we can pause for reflection, as we look back on the year gone by. It is a time when it is surely appropriate to recall the story that lies at the heart of this festive season. That story is of a long and difficult journey, and the birth of a child, in a temporary home, in Bethlehem two thousand years ago. Let us think too of how far from a state of peace that region is today, and how the absence of peace reflects our failure at a human and diplomatic level, and how, sadly, we hear words that provoke rather than heal. Across the many years and miles that separate us from the original Christmas story, we can unfortunately see too many parallels in our own society today. As …

Raising road safety awareness and reducing the number and severity of road traffic collisions on Clare’s roads is the objective of an event in the public car park at Glór, Ennis, next week. The roadshow will include a roll-over simulator demonstrating what it is like to be involved in a car crash, first hand accounts from emergency first responders and an interactive shuttle featuring driving, motorbike and bicycle simulators, reaction timers, Driver Theory Test computers, and screens showing road safety advertisements. Organised by the Clare Road Safety Action Group, comprising Clare County Council, An Garda Síochána, HSE, Road Safety Authority, Clare Civil Defence and Clare County Fire & Rescue Service, it is open to all. On Wednesday morning, hundreds of secondary school students will witness the full horror of a road crash at a simulation aimed at showing teenagers the human tragedy behind the statistics. The demonstration is targeted at young people who are about to embark on their driving careers or who …

CRUSHEEN teenager Delia Keary has become the fourth Clare person to die as a result of road traffic accidents in recent days. The 18 year old had been a passenger in a car which collided with a truck at Wards Cross near Abbeyfeale on Friday evening. 19 year old Gary Kelly from Ennis died at the scene while Delia was taken to University Hospital, Limerick for treatment. However Gardai have confirmed that she passed away on Saturday night. Newcastle West Gardai are investigating the incident and they have appealed to witnesses to contact them on 069 20650, The Garda Confidential Telephone Line 1800 666 111 or any Garda Station. Also the funeral takes place on Monday of Clare native Paul Hannon, who lost his life after he was involved in a collision with a car while cycling in Dublin on Friday morning. While last Thursday, three year old Estlin Wall was laid to rest after she had died following a …

UL Hospitals has become the first group in the country to produce a Major Emergency Plan. A major emergency is defined as any incident, usually with little or no warning, which overwhelms the ability of an organisation to respond. Major emergency planning is built into key public services in Ireland and inter-agency plans – involving collaboration between health authorities, local authorities and An Garda Siochana at a regional and national level – have long been in existence. Major emergency plans provide staff with roles and responsibilities in the event of the declaration of a major emergency. Individual hospitals have long had them in place but following the formation of hospital groups, it is now a requirement to deliver a plan at group level. “This document provides staff across UL Hospitals with a plan of action in the event of a major emergency being declared and is also a guide on how to implement that plan in a structured, coordinated and …

A man in his 60’s has been rescued from the River Fergus. Gardaí were alerted around 9.30 last night after a man got into difficulty close to the bridge on the N85 ring-road near Clareabbey in Clarecastle.. Three units of the Ennis Fire Service, including a specialist Swift Water Rescue Team, were sent to the scene, while the Doolin unit of the Irish Coast Guard was also alerted, but was later stood down. Members of An Garda Síochána located the man beneath the bridge and attempted to reach him by wading into the water before fire service personnel brought him to safety. The man was transferred into the care of the ambulance service.

Shannon Airport has today (Tuesday) conducted a crash-exercise to validate the combined response of the airport together with the support of the primary emergency agencies and other key stakeholders that would react to any aviation incident at the airport. Participating agencies include Shannon airport, Clare County Council, An Garda Síochána, Health Service Executive, National Ambulance Service and Irish Aviation Authority (IAA). Students from NUIG’s College of Hotel Management took on the varied roles of passengers, relatives and press. Commenting on the crash-exercise, Niall Maloney, airport operations director, said: “Crash-exercises are conducted every two years at Shannon Airport as a condition of its aerodrome licence and we use the opportunity then in conjunction with the other emergency services to test the regional major emergency plan and site specific arrangements for the airport. “The safety of our customer airlines, passengers and staff is paramount to us and today’s exercise allows us to test our readiness for a real life situation should it …