Conor Lally

1 week ago | irishtimes.com | Conor Lally

Paul Forrestal was in his early 20s and working in Germany as an aircraft mechanic in 1996. He loved the work and the travel opportunities it afforded him. Little did he know he would soon to trading his life and oily overalls on the Continent for a Garda uniform and the streets of Dublin. Back home in Ireland that summer, Det Gda Jerry McCabe was shot dead during a Provisional IRA bank robbery in Limerick and journalist Veronica Guerin was murdered in Dublin.

1 week ago | irishtimes.com | Conor Lally

A Garda review has found that allegations made in the Dáil about members of a protest group being strip-searched by gardaí were “false”, the Minister for Justice has said. Jim O’Callaghan said footage from CCTV and bodyworn cameras were examined as part of the review into the “extremely serious” claims made about the incident involving members of Mothers Against Genocide.

1 week ago | irishtimes.com | Conor Lally

The group representing Garda sergeants and inspectors has criticised the record of Garda Commissioner Drew Harris, saying he has a legacy after almost seven years of internal disharmony, a recruitment crisis and the stripping of policing manpower and other resources from rural Ireland. At the annual conference of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI), its president, Declan Higgins, stressed his criticisms of Mr Harris’s record were “not personal”.

1 week ago | irishtimes.com | Conor Lally

Samantha Cookes, the serial fraudster who lived in Ireland for a decade under multiple aliases while working for families as a live-in au pair, has been convicted of theft and jailed for a further three-month period. Cookes (36) was brought before the courts in Killarney, Co Kerry, on Tuesday morning to face charges over the theft of a sofa and two armchairs valued at over €5,000 from a property she was renting in Kenmare. She pleaded guilty and was sentenced to a further three months.

1 week ago | irishtimes.com | Conor Lally

Garda sergeants and inspectors have raised concerns about so-called ‘citizen journalists’ who, they say, specialise in trying to provoke gardaí while they are being filmed. The Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) said the practice of Garda members being targeted, including by people live streaming, had a potentially serious impact on them.