Latest news with #AirCorps
Irish Times
3 hours ago
- General
- Irish Times
Expert group warned military air traffic control staffing issue would re-emerge
An expert group urged four years ago for a special payment to be given to military air traffic controllers to dissuade them from leaving the Defence Forces for the private sector. It is understood the 2021 report was not acted upon, and the service is now facing a new staffing crisis. The group's report argued that problems with the operation of military air traffic control services would continue to emerge every few years if issues continued to be tackled on an ad hoc basis. The report, drawn up by a joint Department of Defence and Defence Forces group, recommended introducing a service commitment scheme that would boost pay for air traffic control personnel. READ MORE The report said 'stability must be ensured through retaining experience and stopping air traffic service personnel numbers dropping further'. It urged adopting a 'blended approach of incentives and undertakings' to minimise 'premature voluntary retirements'. 'Having a pathway for personnel who complete training to take up a role (and technical pay) specific to their skill set, or the ability to pay qualified controllers the appropriate technical pay after completing their training, would mitigate the impact of gaps within the unit,' the report said. It is understood the 2021 report was not acted upon, and the service is now facing a new staffing crisis. Last week it emerged that an acute shortage of trained air traffic controllers (ATCs) at the Air Corps ' only base at Casement Aerodrome in Baldonnel, Dublin, is expected to lead to military flight operations being restricted to a five-day-a-week, daytime-only schedule. [ Parlous state of Defence Forces once again laid bare Opens in new window ] The move will have huge implications for rescue, medical and policing services that use the Baldonnel airbase. The 505 Squadron, which is responsible for air traffic control, is supposed to have 21 personnel but in recent years it has been operating at about 50 per cent capacity. Five personnel are due to depart shortly for the private sector, necessitating the move to a reduced schedule, which takes effect from June 7th. The 2021 report recommended reforms to training, recruitment and retention. However, it warned that having non-military personnel run the air traffic service in its entirety or contracting it out to an external provider is 'not an option'. The report said there should be a minimum of 32 personnel in the air traffic control unit. It said personnel undergoing training should have to make a four-year commitment. [ State attempting to reach settlements with Air Corps chemical victims, Tánaiste says Opens in new window ] The Air Corps is responsible for air navigation in airspace designated for use by the Defence Forces. In 2016 the retirement of key personnel led to a restriction on operations. A full 24-hour service was restored in 2021. The joint review group was established to identify options for the long-term sustainability of the air traffic service at Baldonnel. The report said issues related to the air traffic service in the past were 'largely dealt with in an ad hoc manner'. 'Maintaining such an approach will lead to problems continuing or re-emerging from time to time every number of years.' It said the military air traffic service is 'a strategic asset' that ensures air connectivity for the State. 'Casement Aerodrome is the only secure military airfield within the State, and is itself a strategic asset. Military air traffic service plays a vital role in maintaining this capability and in ensuring the security of operations in interactions with other agencies,' the report said.
The Irish Sun
a day ago
- The Irish Sun
Kinahan cartel's Sean McGovern on 23-hr prison lockdown after extradition as strict ‘kept apart' jail condition in force
KINAHAN cartel member Sean McGovern is being held on 23-hour lockdown in Ireland's most secure prison. McGovern, 39, was brought to 4 Sean McGovern is being held on 23-hour lockdown in Ireland's most secure prison Credit: Crispin Rodwell - The Sun Dublin 4 McGovern is the right-hand man of cartel chief Daniel Kinahan As part of the conditions of his remand he's prevented from mixing with other prisoners, after he was charged with the Although there is an overcrowding issue at the moment in Irish The unit in which he will be held is also used for prisoners who are considered to be under threat. Read more in News He has been banned from being on the same landing as those inmates convicted of organised crime offences. One source said: 'McGovern is being kept apart from others who have connections to organised crime. 'He will stay on this landing until his trial at the Special Criminal Court starts.' The other inmates who are being held on the same landing as McGovern include Most read in The Irish Sun Another is Benjamin Morrissey, who's classed as one of Ireland's most violent prisoners. Listen to wiretap recordings of drug lord James Mulvey discussing partnering with Kinahan Cartel McGovern appeared at the Special Criminal Court after he was flown from the UAE to Ireland on an Air Corps Airbus C295 plane. The aircraft left Al Maktoum International in Dubai at 8pm Irish time on Wednesday and stopped in Larnaca in Cyprus and Marseille in France to refuel. BROUGHT BACK Once landed at the Casement Aerodrome, McGovern was brought to the Special Court to be charged with the five different offences. He was brought to the court by armed The Gardai's Armed Support Unit were also mobilised to appear at the The Crumlin man was extradited to Ireland on Wednesday after losing his appeal against the extradition in the last week. 4 McGovern was flown from the UAE to Ireland on an Air Corps Airbus C295 plane Credit: GARY ASHE commissioned by The Sun Dublin 4 McGovern is being held in Portlaoise Prison Credit: PA:Press Association
Irish Times
2 days ago
- Business
- Irish Times
Letters to the Editor, May 31st: On President D Higgins, housing czars and Air Corps funding
Sir, – I have just read the report on the crisis in Air traffic Control, Baldonnell, which will ultimately reduce the Air Corps flying hours to a five day, daytime only operation. ( 'Irish military flight operations to move to part-time and may soon cease at Air Corps base .' May 29th). I joined the Air Corps in 1975 as an apprentice. At that time a hugely competent SAR operation covered the whole of the Republic with the Allouette 111 helicopter. The cracks began to show over the years with successive governments refusing to grasp the nettle of retention of Air Corps personnel at all levels in the force due to the high levels of training they received, which made them very marketable in the aviation world in particular. Politicians took the easy way out and contracted out SAR operations to a civilian contractor. The last contract was signed with Bristow Helicopters in 2013 and was valid until 2023 with an option of a further three years. READ MORE The annual cost of this contract was €50 million a year or €500 million over the 10 years. In May 2023 a new contract was signed to the value of €670 million. The new model of helicopter providing this service is the Leonardo AW189 which has a purchase price of approximately €15 million. In the meantime, a fully capable Air Corps is left twiddling its thumbs while the service disintegrates around them. This also affects the Garda Air support wing which operates out of Baldonnell. Around ¤670 million would sort out every problem that exists today. Tánaiste and Minister for Defence, Simon Harris announced that the government has plans to form a fighter wing in the future. Will this wing be limited to daytime operations? Meanwhile, every drug smuggling operation will be able to operate under cover of darkness or weekends due to the disgraceful neglect by successive governments –Yours, etc, PATRICK KEATING. Co Dublin. Israel and President Higgins Sir, – President Michael D Higgins spoke the unvarnished truth at Bloom when he condemned Israeli prime minister Netanyahu's slander of Ireland – its people and its President (' Branding those opposed to Netanyahu policies as anti-Semitic is 'slander', says Michael D Higgins, May 29th). Netanyahu's repeated use of smear tactics against those who criticise his government's actions in Gaza is a transparent attempt to deflect attention from what the majority view as a calculated and ongoing campaign of genocide – deliberate and intentional. History has shown that aggressors often distort narratives to cast themselves as the aggrieved – a timeworn strategy that does not fool the people of Ireland or its political representatives. President Higgins has devoted his life to standing against injustice, consistently speaking out with moral courage when others remain silent. His intellect, integrity, and unwavering advocacy for the oppressed are needed now more than ever. Please continue, President Higgins. Though you need no encouragement from me, your voice matters. – Yours, etc, ENDA KILGALLEN, Dublin 18. Sir, – The President, Michael D Higgins, has said that the General Assembly must speak and act if the Security Council refuses to deal with the prospect of a terrible famine in Gaza. He has referenced special powers that the UN General Assembly can use to get food and aid to the people in Gaza Prof Michael Fakhri, UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food, has also called for the UN Assembly to act. He has highlighted the 'Uniting for Peace' provision whereby the UN General Assembly could pass a resolution calling for UN peacekeepers to accompany humanitarian convoys and deliver the necessary aid into Gaza. This 'Uniting for Peace' provision can be used when the UN Security Council fails to act to maintain international peace and security. He has pointed to Ireland's unique record on the issues of peacekeeping and famine, and how Ireland could lead the way and propose a resolution at the UN General Assembly to initiate the 'Uniting for Peace' Provision for UN intervention to prevent starvation of the people in Gaza. It just so happens that peace broke out momentarily in the Dáil this week when a Labour Party motion that aimed to mandate the Government to initiate the 'Uniting for Peace' provision at the UN General Assembly was accepted by the Government and adopted unanimously by the Dáil. The Tánaiste, Simon Harris, said that the Government would not just not oppose the motion, but would work constructively with the Labour Party and the Dáil to see how it could be advanced. Such unity of purpose in the Dáil does not make for news headlines but it was a significant moment. Ireland has a collective memory of famine and its long-lasting impact on a nation. The Government should take up the baton it has been passed by the Dáil to get the UN General Assembly to act to prevent famine in Gaza. – Yours, etc, CLLR JOANNA TUFFY, Labour Party, Lucan, Co Dublin. Getting serious on climate change Sir, – Larry Dunne's letter (May 30th) refers: he suggests that it is time for the 'environmental lobby' to 'get real' about the need to build houses and infrastructure and apparently, that we continue our lifestyles as if there is no climate emergency to deal with – or, that Ireland is so small that any emissions emanating from this island are so minuscule as to have no significance. But 'getting real' surely means facing the reality of what inaction will do, to the homes that we are building, to food security and to the habitability of large parts of the planet. Yes, building homes is essential. So is farming, transport and industry. But none of this absolves us from the need to plan and act responsibly to reduce emissions. Sensible people are not calling for retreat, they are calling for sustainability, innovation and foresight. They are calling for government policy and action that is not influenced by lobbies, but led by our politicians with a serious eye on long term planetary interests. To take but one example: David Attenborough observes in his book 'A life on our Planet' that more than 60 per cent of habitable land on Earth is used for agriculture, mostly for grazing livestock or growing their feed – chiefly beef production. Yet, beef provides only a small share of the world's calories and is consumed regularly by only a minority of the global population. This is an enormous inefficiency – and one with a devastating environmental cost. If we are serious about climate targets we need land use reform –including support for farmers to shift to lower emission practices, rewilding of marginal land and restoration of degraded peatlands – these changes are not optional, they are part of a liveable future. Fines for non-compliance are the least of it. The real cost is ecological breakdown, irreversible warming and a world increasingly subject to drought, fire, displacement and loss. What's unrealistic is to keep pretending we can find our way out of this emergency without systemic change. – Yours,etc, PAUL O'SHEA, Dublin 18. Food for thought Sir, – I write to protest most strongly – with a mixture of righteous indignation and a whiff of despair at the inclusion in today's Irish Times of that diabolically tempting Summer Food & Drink Magazine. You see, I had made a solemn and noble promise – both to my wife and to myself – that a long-postponed diet would commence this Saturday. We had planned it like a military operation: fridge purged of all sins, cupboards stocked with kale and quinoa, jogging shoes lined up at the door like obedient soldiers. And then – wham! Your mouth-watering recipes and sunlit spreads of Pavlova, Chocolate Fudge Cake, and cocktails with little umbrellas, ambushed me like an elite food squad. My willpower, already fragile, was no match for your glossy pages of culinary seduction. As a result, I have been forced, with the reluctance of a man dragged back into battle, to postpone my diet yet again – this time to a date I promise I'll keep, next summer without fail. – Yours,etc, GEOFF SCARGILL, Co Wicklow. Czar role Sir, – With the statement from the Department of Housing as reported by Hugh Dooley and Cormac McQuinn, (' Housing czar not needed says top civil servant' , May 30th), that their secretary general, Graham Doyle, was objecting to the term ' tsar ' rather than to the role of the Government's new Housing Activation Office', it looks very much as if Mr Doyle is saying something quite different. What he appears to be objecting to is not the term ' tsar ' but the unnecessary duplication of yet another entity within the Department, a 'Housing Activation Office' when we already have a Department charged with this exact remit. And as Doyle quaintly puts it, the role is 'to remove obstacles to construction efforts.' Reading the comments from the Department spokesman I'm not sure the public is likely to be taken in. The political question is now whether the explanation from the spokesman is to be taken as a reprimand to the secretary general ? Watch this space but please don't hold your breath if as a young person you're still looking for a house or an apartment ! – Yours, etc, ALASTAIR CONAN, Coulsdon, England. The principle of principals Sir , – Mike Bottery, the educationalist, stated that 'teachers are the capital of learning organisations'. No one knows this more than school principals who live the recruitment crisis every day. Sean Keavney is not wrong about the crisis in teacher recruitment (Letters, May 28th) but seems to consider this is in opposition to John McHugh's opinion piece ('It is a great honour to be school principal – but the role is no longer sustainable', Education, May 26th). Over the past number of years principals and many others have been relentlessly drawing attention to the teacher recruitment crisis. As principals, we apply for additional allocations, try to create attractive job advertisements and continuously timetable and re-timetable to try to ensure that qualified teachers stand in our classrooms. We are held accountable to the inspectorate and to our school community when there are no teachers to fill vacancies for advertised positions that go unanswered. We are asked to fill in endless surveys on the lack of interest in vacancies, which derive no tangible help. The lack of support for principals and deputy principals does mean that the job is becoming unsustainable. If we don't speak up for Principals, teachers and schools may not get the leaders they deserve and they do deserve the best. – Yours, etc, DR EDEL GREENE, Principal, St. Mary's Secondary School, Dublin 13. Dart attack Sir, Another busy bank holiday ahead – Women's Mini-marathon, Aviva rugby match, concerts in St Anne's Park Raheny, to name a few events and no Dart service from Bray to Connolly! – Yours, etc Ingrid Browne, Sandymount, Dublin. Arts Council reforms Sir, – Your front page report on the Arts Council ( ( 'Minister refused to give Arts Council chief a second term' , May 30th) quotes the director, Maureen Kennelly, as saying that she was disappointed at not being offered a second contract and that 'there were a number of reforms that I brought in'. Clearly, these ' reforms' did not extend to governance controls in relation to capital projects and the potential risk to taxpayers' money. – Yours, etc, MARTIN MC DONALD, Dublin 12. Tomb with a view Sir, – Justine McCarthy writes (' Overgrown tomb is a metaphor for our attitude to women,' May 30th) of Mary O'Connell being left to 'the vagaries of Atlantic storms' buried on Abbey Island, as if this is something to regret. Given a choice of being interred in Glasnevin or the most beautiful graveyard on the planet, I know which I would choose. Mrs O'Connell got the better end of this eternal bargain. – Yours, etc, DR DAVID VAUGHAN, Meath. Beavers and Donnybrook Sir, – Frank McNally's Irishman's Diary (May 30th) provides interesting snippets on the possibility that beavers may have been native to Ireland. My sometime acquaintance, AI, discounts that there was any reliable evidence of beavers existing in Ireland in the post-glacial period. The intriguingly named Beaver Row in Donnybrook, Dublin, was due to earlier – Wright Brothers setting up a beaver industry on the Dodder, in response to a huge demand for beaver felt hats in the 18th/19th centuries. The pelts used were said to have been imported from America or Continental Europe. A terrace of 20 cottages was built for the hat makers, 16 of which exist to this day. Perhaps the sturdy felt hats could be made here once again, as part of a revival of the ancient Donnybrook Fair, where clashing D4 heads could be protected during the course of inevitable robust confrontations. - Yours etc, PATRICK JUDGE, Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin. A marriage of convenience Sir, –Áine Kenny's article ( 'Women keep changing their surnames to match their husbands'. Why are we normalising this symbolic control?', May 28th) brought to the fore the overt yet plainly visible way that the patriarchy renders women invisible, and, symbolically, her children no longer hers. I believe that the practice originated to facilitate, with ease, male succession rights through the male line. This facilitated the transfer of property, money, land, and power through the male line for male benefit. Women who surrender their name on marriage symbolically perpetuates men's societal legacy, and it shows how embedded gender expectations are in our consciousness. Male privilege and access to power is built on their legacy of discrimination against and exploitation of women and children. – Yours, etc, YVONNE PATTERSON, Drogheda, Co Louth. Sir, – In the late 1980s, the registrar of births in the maternity hospital where my first child was born, told me that in order to give the baby my surname with my husband's I needed to add it to the child's forenames. It would then in time become legal through 'custom and practice.' Mervyn Taylor, former Labour minister for equality and law reform in the mid -1990s began the process of allowing a child to legally bear the surnames of both parents . This began the process of breaking the patriarchal tradition of only allowing the child bear the father's name. – Yours, etc, CARMEL WHITE, Castleknock. Dublin. Sir, – I met an American lady one time who had solved the problem of which male surname she should use. She used neither. She took her mother's given name as her second name thus becoming known as something like 'Lois Kirsty'. (Not the lady's real name) – Yours , etc, P. N. CORISH, Rathgar, Dublin 6.
Sunday World
3 days ago
- Sunday World
Gardaí set sights on cartel chief Daniel Kinahan after right-hand man is charged on extradition from Dubai
Sean McGovern (39) is the most senior member of the crime group to appear in an Irish court after he was charged with murder and directing a crime gang. The Air Corps plane arrives at Baldonnel, Dublin with Sean McGovern following his extradition from Dubai. Photo: Gerry Mooney Members of the garda armed support unit outside the Criminal Courts of Justice in Dublin yesterday, ahead of the court appearance of Sean McGovern. Photo: Brian Lawless/PA Wire Gardaí are confident of extraditing cartel leader Daniel Kinahan back to Ireland after his closest confidant was returned from Dubai to face serious charges. Sean McGovern (39) is the most senior member of the crime group to appear in an Irish court after he was charged with murder and directing a crime gang. The Crumlin man was arrested last October and finally removed from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) following a protracted legal and diplomatic process. Daniel Kinahan His removal from the UAE, long considered a safe haven for Irish criminals, has now given renewed confidence to detectives that his boss Daniel Kinahan can be returned. The State's prosecution service and a special counsel are understood to still be reviewing a lengthy file received nearly two years ago on Daniel Kinahan and his younger brother Christy, to determine if they should face prosecution. Gardaí have recommended that they be charged with directing a criminal organisation, which carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment on conviction. Sean McGovern Sources have described this as an 'all-encompassing' charge which reflects a wide range of offending including murder and conspiracy to murder as well as drugs and firearms offences. 'The decision lies with the DPP on whether to charge, but gardaí are confident that if this does happen, the Kinahans will be extradited back here,' a source said. The gang's leadership continues to reside in the emirate, although there are concerns that they could now move to a state more hostile to Western interests on the back of McGovern's extradition. It opens the door for future co-operation Acting Garda Commissioner Shawna Coxon last night described it as a 'precedent-setting case' and that they have signed a memorandum of understanding 'which opens the door for future co-operation'. Ms Coxon also said she 'can't speak to any specific investigation' when asked if gardaí were any further to preferring charges against the Kinahan leadership. Earlier she said that gardaí have developed 'major international partnerships' to target international crime gangs. This includes at judicial level with the UAE and a police-to-police basis which is of value, adding that it is something they will continue to develop. Ms Coxon also acknowledged the assistance of the Irish Air Corps for its 'valued co-operating in this operation'. Last night, Sean McGovern was brought before the Special Criminal Court amid a heavy armed garda presence to be formally charged. He is accused of the murder of innocent grandfather Noel Kirwan (62) in December 2016, and related offences of directing and facilitating a crime gang to carry out that murder. Noel Kirwan, who was shot dead in December 2016, and Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch McGovern is further accused of directing a crime gang to carry out surveillance on Hutch associate James 'Mago' Gately between October 2015 and April 2017, and assisting that gang conspire to murder him. Defence barrister Olan Callanan BL told the court that they were reserving their position in relation to the lawfulness of McGovern's arrest and the jurisdiction of the court. Detective Sergeant Donal Daly gave evidence of arresting the accused for the purposes of charging him and explained that the DPP certified that he should be charged before the non-jury court. The accused, dressed in a grey T-shirt, grey tracksuit bottoms, socks and sandals, only addressed the court to say 'yes' when asked to confirm he was Sean McGovern. No application for bail was made as this can only be sought before the High Court on charges of murder or organised crime offences. Ms Justice Karen O'Connor, presiding, remanded McGovern in custody and he is due to appear before the court again on June 5.
Dublin Live
3 days ago
- Dublin Live
Kinahan boss Sean McGovern appears in Special Criminal Court after Dubai extradition
Kinahan cartel boss Sean McGovern is due to arrive in Ireland on Thursday evening to face murder and gangland charges, having been extradited from Dubai on Wednesday night. McGovern - described by United States authorities as Daniel Kinahan's closest confidant - is being flown back to Ireland from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates by the Air Corps and accompanied by Gardaí. The Air Corps' €120 million Casa C295 maritime surveillance plane left Dubai at approximately 8.30pm Irish time on Wednesday evening. The crew, accompanied by Gardaí, are understood to have left Ireland in recent days on the aircraft, before reaching Dubai on Tuesday evening after a 6,000km flight. Dubai cops handed McGovern over to Gardaí on Wednesday before the long flight back to Ireland, which stopped off in Larnaca in Cyprus and Marseille in France before its scheduled arrival at Air Corps HQ in Baldonnel. McGovern, from Crumlin, is expected to appear at the non-jury Special Criminal Court shortly after the C295 lands in Dublin. Gardaí will arrest him as soon as he lands and he will then be charged and brought to court. The dramatic move follows Dubai's arrest of McGovern, 38, in the desert oil state last October. That was on foot of an extradition request from Irish authorities. The request was made after the Director of Public Prosecutions ordered that McGovern be charged with two offences linked to the Kinahan Hutch feud, a war that left up to 18 men dead. McGovern is to be charged with the December 2016 murder in Clondalkin in the west of the capital of Noel Kirwan. Gardaí have also been authorised to charge McGovern - who was one of seven people including Daniel, Christopher and Christy Kinahan - to be formally sanctioned by America in April 2022, for directing a crime gang. That is a rarely-used law that can see anyone convicted for life - which is also the penalty for someone found guilty of murder. McGovern has been in custody in Dubai since October, but he was fighting the extradition request. But he lost that fight and is now being brought back to Ireland - where he will now face justice. Ireland had no extradition treaty with Dubai at the time, but former Justice Minister Helen McEntee and Garda Commissioner Drew Harris both lobbied UAE authorities to get McGovern arrested. Ireland and the UAE have now agreed a deal and that is sure to be bad news for the three Kinahan men - who are also holed up in the UAE. Gardaí want them hit with serious charges, but the Director of Public Prosecutions has made no decision on those three men yet. Follow live updates in the blog below.
