More than 90 personnel involved in Cab searches targeting suspected drug trafficker
Criminal Assets Bureau
(Cab) in
Co Kerry
on Tuesday, resulting in the seizure of more than €200,000.
The searches carried out on Tuesday targeted the assets of an individual suspected of involvement in drug trafficking.
Cab officers,
gardaí
from the Kerry division, the Garda Armed Support Unit and the Customs Dog Unit conducted searches at residences and businesses across the county.
During the operation, Cab officers seized more than €200,000 in cash, electronic devices and 'documents of evidential value', a Garda representative said.
READ MORE
'This investigation remains ongoing,' they said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Times
2 hours ago
- Irish Times
Woman who claims ex-partner records her using Meta smart glasses granted temporary protection order
A woman whose 'threatening' ex-partner sent a recording of her young daughter crying while she was in his care has been granted a temporary protection order until Tusla can investigate the child's welfare. The mother told Dublin District Family Court that she and her ex-partner separated more than a year ago but lived together with their child until earlier this year, from which point she 'couldn't take it any more'. She told Judge William Aylmer 'things got mad, crazy', claiming her ex-partner installed cameras 'all over the house, inside the house'. She alleged he wears Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses which he uses to record video footage 'all the time'. READ MORE 'He's recording me when he comes to drop her off and collect her and he sends me the clips,' she said. Since she and her daughter left, she claimed she has been receiving 'threatening' messages from him. In the messages, she alleges he said 'this won't bode well for you' and 'what's going to happen now are consequences of your actions. Don't say I didn't warn you'. The woman said her daughter, aged under 10, stays with him once a week and that she did not have concerns for her welfare 'up until recently'. She played an audio clip she had received by email from her ex-partner the day prior, in which her upset daughter could be heard crying. 'His behaviour is just so mad,' the woman said while crying at the witness stand on Friday. Asked whether she had considered not letting her daughter visit her ex-partner, she said she does 'not want to do that to her' or affect her routine. Noting he had a concern for the child's welfare after hearing the evidence, Judge Aylmer said he would direct Tusla to carry out a section 20 report, which involves a social worker undertaking an investigation of the child's welfare. This would take some time to prepare, he said as he granted a temporary protection order for the mother and her daughter. He made the order while only the woman was present in court and without hearing the ex-partner's response to her claims. A protection order, which can be granted if a judge believes there is an immediate risk of significant harm, directs a person to stop committing or threatening violence against someone. In a separate case on Friday morning, a woman sought a protection order against the father of her newborn baby. She claimed her ex-partner was emotionally abusive and cannot control his anger. She told the judge she gave birth last month and was afraid of the man from whom she separated in recent months. 'The more the relationship continued, and I was pregnant, the worse his behaviour got. He could not control his anger and would punch and kick the furniture around the house,' she said. 'He would call me names, he would ask where I was, who I was with at all times. I would wake up and he would be going through my phone and my chats,' she said. On several occasions throughout their relationship, her ex-partner would prevent her from exiting rooms during arguments, she claimed. 'The more I look at my daughter, the more I don't feel that it's safe for him to be around her,' she said. Judge Aylmer granted a temporary protection order and limited the man's communication regarding his child to the woman's mother only. The man was not present in court during the woman's application. The judge said that if the man wishes to gain access to his child, and if the woman is not volunteering it, he must come to court to seek it.
Irish Times
7 hours ago
- Irish Times
What will Ireland's costly five-year schools abuse inquiry achieve?
In recent weeks, the Government has announced the establishment of an inquiry into sexual abuse in all schools, primary and second level . Now people who suffered physical abuse are asking, 'what about us?' Four categories of abuse are used in classifying abuse – sexual, physical, emotional, and neglect. In the legal world, a claim of sexual abuse appears to have top billing when it comes to redress, but that should not take from the fact that the effects of any abuse, experienced as a child, can be difficult to measure. When we consider the hurt caused by verbal abuse, mockery, classroom humiliation, exclusion, we realise that these experiences can have lifelong consequences for the individual and society. Social class played a part in the abuse in schools . READ MORE Noted Brazilian educator Paulo Freire, writing about oppressors versus the oppressed, made the point that very few, if any, are capable of overcoming the views and prejudices of the class into which they were born. Teachers in schools, be they religious or secular, tended to come from middle class origins and many took the view that it did not matter if one treated the children of the poor differently from the those whose parents were better off, parents with whom the teachers could more easily identify. This was relevant from the foundation of the primary school system in the 19th century, though it began to change gradually in the 1960s and with the introduction of free education. It is questionable what a five-year, costly Government inquiry, which will divert financial and personnel resources from the educational budget, will achieve. If the net of inquiries of past abuses continues to be widened, will a point of closure ever be reached? We know that abuse happens in families. Will future governments trawl through every family in the land so that every child who was ever abused in any setting is going to have a voice? [ 'I'm angry that my abuse as a child does not count' – State must pay for school sexual abuse Opens in new window ] Minister for Education Helen McEntee said institutions and religious orders involved in historical sex abuse in schools will be "held accountable" for the "awful" crimes. Photograph: Cate McCurry/ PA Wire Presumably the inquiry will identify those who allege abuse. Will it then have the task of assessing the truth of any allegation? Will it presume that all allegations are true? There is the question of natural justice, whereby the accused has the right of reply to his/ her accuser. Having verified whether an allegation is credible (and there is a difference between credibility and truth) there is the question of who will bear the cost of redress. And we need to ask ourselves, and those who represent us in Government, if 'giving a voice' actually brings healing. It may – but being the public voice that represents all those who suffered could also serve to lock one into the hurt. Tánaiste Simon Harris has insisted that the religious organisations will have to pay and the Opposition are adamant that they have 'got away' with not paying. Religious organisations have already paid some money and handed over buildings. There has not been any calculation of the money and salaries that wereploughed back into schools. This might be as immeasurable as the degree of abuse. The reality of child abuse within and without the churches has been revealed and openly debated for the past 30 years. It has shattered the institution of the Catholic Church and, in many ways, has been as transformative as the Reformation was in the 16th century. The credibility of the Church of Rome has been marred, possibly beyond repair. But there may come a point where we are in danger of ignoring present abuses in favour of scrutiny of the past. Finally, questions must be raised about school management. The greater number of our schools are under the management of the Catholic Church. The pay back in terms of church practice and adult belief seem minimal. The passing on of faith is primarily the role of the family. This is the time for the Catholic hierarchy to hand back the schools to the State. Margaret Lee is a retired Principal Social Worker with experience in Child and Family Services, as well as on Child Protection Committee.
Irish Times
11 hours ago
- Irish Times
Deaths in Co Fermanagh: ‘The only comfort we have is that Vanessa, James and Sara are together and finally safe'
Three hearses parked, side by side, outside a small country church. They took up the width of the road. A heartbreaking sight. 'When you look at them together like that, it just hits you,' murmured a local man as the funeral bell tolled for Vanessa Whyte and her two teenage children. READ MORE Their grieving family walked the final stretch of tarmac behind the coffins of their loved ones. They walked between footpaths lined by mourners from two communities at opposite ends of the island united in pain and shock at the terrible circumstances surrounding the deaths of Vanessa, James (14) and Sara (13). They died in a shooting at their home in Maguiresbridge, Co Fermanagh . Ian Rutledge, Vanessa's husband and the children's father, died later in hospital from self-inflicted gun wounds . Vanessa was from the Co Clare village of Barefield, which is just outside Ennis. She was steeped in the GAA and a proud supporter of Clare hurling . This time last year, Vanessa and the children were in Croke Park when their beloved Banner County lifted the All-Ireland hurling crown. In Fermanagh, they were active members of two local GAA clubs. Who could have imagined that the saffron and blue jerseys they so proudly wore to Dublin would be placed next to a church altar at their funeral mass a year later? Or that their names would be spoken at the next All-Ireland hurling final as the crowd rose for a minute's silence to mark their passing? In Barefield on Saturday, these were among the questions repeatedly asked by mourners. There were no answers. Not for the crowd at the roadside nor for the people on the hill above, where the Church of the Immaculate Conception was already packed to capacity. The overflow was accommodated by rows of outdoor seating and a public address system. It still wasn't enough. And all they could do was be there, in the overwhelming silence, trying to make sense of the scene. The order of service booklet featured a now familiar photograph of Vanessa, Sara and James outside Croke Park. The order of service for the removal of Vanessa Whyte, her son James and daughter Sara. Photograph: Liam McBurney/PA Wire The members of the local GAA club, St Joseph's Doora-Barefield, formed part of a guard of honour outside the church. They were joined by more than a hundred members from Lisbellaw hurling club and Maguiresbridge gaelic football club who travelled from Fermanagh to bid a final farewell to their clubmates. Dressed in their club colours, many of them young teenagers like James and Sara, they sobbed and embraced when the cortege passed. As they stood, the rolled booklets stuck out of back pockets like matchday programmes. Each hearse was packed with mementos from the short lives of the three deceased with rectangular wreaths resting against the sides, each one with a name and place in the family: Vanessa – mother, daughter, sister; James – son, brother, nephew; Sara – daughter, sister, niece, cousin. Vanessa was a vet. The family loved animals. Little soft-toy black-and-white cats looked out from the hearses bearing the children. There were framed family photographs, lots of them. Hurleys. Sliotars. Jerseys. The men from the GAA clubs stepped forward and prepared to shoulder the remains into the church. One of them, stooping to take the burden, shook his head in disbelief when he saw the young lad's coffin. Then he hefted it aloft with his clubmates. Up the slope and to the doors where a bishop and a large number of local priests were waiting. [ 'We couldn't possibly have answers': Prayer service held in Co Clare for Fermanagh shooting victims Opens in new window ] [ 'Their infectious energy, their open smiles': Murder of mother and children has shaken Co Fermanagh community, service hears Opens in new window ] In the front row of mourners was Mary Whyte, Vanessa's mother. Her remaining sons and daughters and their children were there to comfort her. Three generations of a family in sorrow. Regina White gave the eulogy for her sister, niece and nephew. It was compelling in its testimony of love and also in its perfectly pitched description of a family torn apart by the violent actions of another. She talked about their personalities. Their funny little quirks. Their kindness. Their interests. The things that made them special. Vanessa: 'unique and irreplaceable … witty, bright and determined". Catching the bus to the All-Ireland final in 1997 with no ticket to the match, but getting one within an hour of reaching Dublin. Her love of animals and of her home county of Clare. Fourteen-year-old James: a kind boy with an infectious smile and strong sense of loyalty. He had a deep love of the GAA and idolised the hurlers from the Banner County. 'Our family find comfort in the fact that James got to experience the feelings of his county winning the All-Ireland last year,' said Regina. Thirteen-year-old Sara: she wanted to become a vet like her mother. 'She had a smile that would light a room and, like her brother, devilment was a core part of her personality . . . She was a normal, happy 13-year-old.' She never left home without Bunny, a small toy dog. 'When you saw Sara, Bunny was in close proximity. He will remain with her on her final journey.' So much to say about them. But so much more that had to be said about how they died. Regina Whyte did not shirk from this. 'Vanessa, James and Sara were taken from this world in a cruel and vicious manner. There are no words available to express how this has impacted our family and their friends. 'We as a family have been robbed of both a relationship with our sister and a chance to see James and Sara grow up, and they have been robbed of the remainder of their lives.' She steadied her wavering voice as mourners wept. They had been expecting the family in Clare this summer, as always. 'This was supposed to be a joyous occasion where Vanessa would see her new nephew Harry Joe, and Sara and James would meet their baby cousin for the first time. Instead we are in the position of choosing coffins, final burial places and funeral hymns.' These were difficult words but they needed to be said. 'For us as a family, the only comfort we have is that Vanessa, James and Sara are together and finally safe. 'Vanessa will have her children at either side of her forever, as they were when they were alive.' When their bodies were removed to Barefield after a service in Fermanagh attended by hundreds of people, they lay in repose in the 150-year-old church. There, the three coffins were placed at top of the aisle beneath three stained glass windows. The altar was beautifully decorated. And there, among the items by the steps was a wooden collection box for Women's Aid. At the requiem Mass representatives of the President, the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste were present. Jarlath Burns, the GAA president attended, as did staff from Enniskillen Royal Grammar School, where James and Sara were students. Bishop Gerard Nash concelebrated. 'Here in Barefield church today with Vanessa, James and Sara, we are in the land of 'I don't know',' he said in his homily. But while the tragic events of last week – 'the ripping away of three people from their family and friends' – has left people searching for answers, he reminded mourners that in dark times like this it is important to find the light. 'Darkness will not conquer.' After the Mass, Vanessa's brother Ivor thanked all the people who sent messages of comfort and support from all over the country. He thanked the local community for rallying around, and the GAA community from Fermanagh for its great support. Then he echoed the unflinching words spoken earlier by his sister Regina. 'We hope and pray that no other family has to experience the unimaginable grief and loss we have endured since the 23rd of July' he said. 'We hope that anyone who may live in fear today recognises that if they reach out, this love and support that is part of our communities will be there for them too.' Local men and women provided stewarding inside and outside the church. 'About 30 of us, and many more willing,' said one. A farmer opened his field for parking. The hearses prepared to move. Young Sara and James were as tall as their mother when they died – their coffins were the same. And then, just before the cortege left for Templemaley cemetery, Mary Whyte walked up to the leading hearse and sat in the passenger seat. If Vanessa was still leading her two children, still with them as she always was, then her mother would be there for her daughter too, accompanying her and her grandchildren on their final journey.
