logo
Wexford Gardaí highlight the importance of showing solidarity with those affected by domestic abuse

Wexford Gardaí highlight the importance of showing solidarity with those affected by domestic abuse

'Go Purple' is a national campaign aimed at raising awareness about domestic violence and the supports available to victims.
The initiative was first organised in 2020 by community garda Stacey Looby in Navan Garda Station. Each year, it encourages both garda personnel and participants to wear the colour purple.
An Garda Síochana revealed that in 2024, an excess of 65,000 domestic abuse related contacted the Gardaí – an average of 2,250 reports each week. They have observed an increase in reporting rates of domestic abuse year on year.
Enniscorthy Gardaí made sure to do their part by inviting in members of Wexford County Council to discuss the issue on Friday, May 30.
Cllr Barbara-Anne Murphy and Cllr Mary Farrell were welcomed into the Enniscorthy station by Superintendent David O'Sullivan, Garda Maeve Hanlon, Garda Emma Walsh, and Inspector Liam Kavanagh.
Wexford Garda Station also encouraged people to speak to each other and to share their experiences with those close to them.
"Above all, we are asking that you speak to one another about this issue. Without realising, you might just give someone the crucial support they've needed to begin to share some of the fear they deal with alone,' they said.
If you or someone you know is a victim of domestic abuse, please contact or speak with any officer at your nearest Garda Station.
In an emergency or immediate danger, please call 999/112.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Woman killed in Galway fire named as former death row inmate Sunny Jacobs
Woman killed in Galway fire named as former death row inmate Sunny Jacobs

Irish Examiner

timean hour ago

  • Irish Examiner

Woman killed in Galway fire named as former death row inmate Sunny Jacobs

A 76-year-old woman who died in a house fire in Galway has been named as Sonia 'Sunny' Jacobs who served 17 years in prison, including time on death row, after she was wrongfully convicted of the murder of a US policeman and a Canadian constable. Jacobs perished after a blaze broke out at her bungalow near Casla in Co Galway on Tuesday. A man in his 30s, who is understood to have been her carer, also died in the incident at Gleann Mhic Mhuireann. Gardaí and the emergency services were alerted to the fire at 6.20am. The bodies of the man and woman were recovered from inside the property. The scene has been preserved for a technical examination and autopsies will be carried out at University Hospital Galway. Jacobs was placed on death row in Florida in 1976, having been wrongfully convicted of a double murder. Her son was nine and her daughter was just 10 months old when she went to prison. When freed in 1992, her son Eric was a married father, while her daughter Christina was 16. Jacobs told the BBC in 2017 that when she went to jail when she was a 'mother, a daughter and a wife', and by the time she came out, she was a 'grandmother, an orphan and a widow.' Jacobs and Jesse Joseph Tafero, the father of the younger of her two children, were tried separately, convicted, and sentenced to death by the same judge for the murders of two police officers at a rest stop off Interstate 95 in Broward County, Florida in 1976. The pair had been travelling with their children, Eric and Christina, when their car broke down. They were trying to get home to North Carolina. A man Tafero knew named Walter Rhodes agreed to drive the couple and their children home. Sunny fell asleep with the children in the back seat, but was startled awake by a policeman knocking on the window of the parked car. The officer was Philip Black, a Florida Highway Patrol trooper and his friend Donald Irwin, a Canadian constable who was on holiday. She said gunfire broke out and Mr Black and Mr Irwin were killed. Jacobs and Tafero maintained from the beginning that Rhodes had shot the officers, and that they had nothing to do with it. Although there were two eyewitnesses to events surrounding the murders, neither contradicted Jacobs' and Tafero's version of what happened. Nor was their version contradicted by physical evidence. Both Tafero and Rhodes had gunpowder residue on their hands, a fact that was consistent with Tafero's claim that Rhodes handed him the gun after shooting the officers. There was no gunpowder residue on Jacobs' hands. The convictions of Jacobs and Tafero rested primarily on the testimony of Rhodes, who was allowed to plead guilty to a reduced charge of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. In 1981, the Florida Supreme Court commuted the sentence of Jacobs to life in prison. Tafero was put to death in 1990. Peter Pringle and Sunny Jacobs who married in 2013. File picture: Andrew Downes After the execution, Rhodes confessed he had fired the fatal shots, confirming both Jacobs' and Tafero's long-maintained innocence. Jacobs was freed in 1992 when she was 45 years old. She subsequently met and married Peter Pringle in 2013. Mr Pringle had been sentenced to death in 1980 in Dublin for the murder of two gardaí, John Morley and Henry Byrne, in a bank raid in Ballaghaderreen in Roscommon. He served 15 years in jail before he was released in 1995 after his convictions for the July 1980 murders were deemed unsafe. Following her release from prison, Jacobs campaigned for the abolition of the death penalty. She met Mr Pringle at an Amnesty International event in 1998. He was also involved in advocacy work. Mr Pringle died on New Year's Eve 2022 at the age of 84. The pair set up the Sunny Healing Centre in rural Connemara, where they offered a space for healing and respite to individuals who had faced miscarriages of justice. Jacobs was also an author and spoke at universities and conferences. Oscar-winning actress Susan Sarandon played her in the movie The Exonerated, which was released in 2005. Read More Ellen McGarrahan and the search for truth following a grisly execution

Driver caught at 188km/h on M50 as thousands of fines issued over Bank Holiday weekend
Driver caught at 188km/h on M50 as thousands of fines issued over Bank Holiday weekend

Irish Examiner

time3 hours ago

  • Irish Examiner

Driver caught at 188km/h on M50 as thousands of fines issued over Bank Holiday weekend

A motorist was caught speeding at 188km/h in a 100km/h zone on the M50 at Templeogue in Dublin over the Bank Holiday weekend, as part of a nationwide garda road safety operation. The excessive speed was among nearly 3,000 speeding offences recorded between 7am on Thursday, May 29, and 7am on Tuesday, June 3, during an extensive roads policing operation targeting dangerous driving behaviour. Other notable speeding detections included: 99km/h in a 50km/h zone at Clones, Co Monaghan; 114km/h in a 60km/h zone at Dunboyne, Co Meath; 119km/h in an 80km/h zone at Broadford, Co Kildare. Throughout the operation, gardaí carried out more than 830 Mandatory Intoxicant Testing (MIT) checkpoints. These resulted in over 4,000 breath tests and around 270 oral fluid tests, leading to 167 arrests for suspected intoxicated driving. Tragically, there was one fatality reported across the weekend, while 14 serious collisions left 14 people with severe or life-threatening injuries. In addition to speeding, Gardaí issued fixed charge notices for a range of offences including: Over 210 for using mobile phones while driving; More than 215 for unaccompanied learner drivers; Over 70 for failure to wear seatbelts. A total of 99 vehicles were seized from unaccompanied learner permit holders, while 380 vehicles were taken off the road for lacking tax or insurance. Gardaí have renewed appeals for all motorists to slow down, never drive under the influence of drink or drugs, wear seatbelts, and remain focused while driving. Read More Only 60 of 4,800 dangerous driving reports to online Traffic Watch system result in a fine

Who is the American drifter questioned over Michael Gaine's murder?
Who is the American drifter questioned over Michael Gaine's murder?

Irish Times

time7 hours ago

  • Irish Times

Who is the American drifter questioned over Michael Gaine's murder?

Kerry farmer Michael Gaine's disappearance on March 20th was first treated as a missing person's case. Soon, though, it was upgraded to a murder investigation as gardaí explored multiple lines of inquiry in their attempts to find a body. Partial human remains were found on May 16th and subsequently confirmed to be those of Gaine. The discovery shone a new, disturbing light on the case. The 56-year-old had been dismembered, with his body parts deposited into the silage pit on his farm . One line of inquiry involved Michael Kelley, an American who lived and worked on Gaine's 1,000-acre farm for the past three years. READ MORE Kelley has identified himself to the media and confirmed he was arrested and questioned in relation to Gaine's murder. He was released without charge. So, who is he and what was he doing in Kerry? How did he come to live and work on the Gaine farm? And why is he giving interviews? Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store