Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
TWO CONVICTED PRISONERS have failed to return to custody after being temporarily released from jail over Christmas, the Irish Prison Service has confirmed.
The gardaí have been notified of the two who did not turn up, the Irish Prison Service said. If caught they must serve the remainder of their sentence from the date on which they were released on leave.
They may also face sanctions from the prison governor, which could include the loss of up to 14 days remission for good behaviour.
The Irish Prison Service said applications for temporary release are granted after consideration of public safety, the nature and seriousness of the prisoner’s initial offence, and their behaviour while in custody.
Around 60 per cent of the inmates released before Christmas were serving time in lower-security institutions, while all were nearing the end of their sentences.
Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article.
Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.
@Munster1: can’t happen quick enough, another Limerick funeral, Newcastle West, up to 200 people at it, many travelled from UK. Guards know about these in advance and seem to do nothing to stop them, they issued fines ffs,
@Paul Greham: Thats what I had thought man … who knows who they have checked compared to those who walked clean through, the priority seems more in checking if some Irish Pub recipient is going on holiday to Tenerife … although I have not heard of the Tenerife variant yet …
I wonder what all the lockdown fanatics will say in a few years when we’ve to pay billions of billions of euros back from all the unnecessary bailouts of businesses. Local pub getting 3k a week for subsidies wouldn’t of made the colour of it before covid. The mismanagement of funds during this lockdown is extraordinary. But not a surprise giving our country’s history.
@Cian:€3k which has to pay rates bills insurance, €3k equates to about 500 pints over 7 days now don’t know where you learnt maths but doubt if any of these business are staying open on €428 a day before anything is paid in normal times insurance alone is bad enough but do you think brewery gives them drink free!! Electricity is free, rates and rents free!!
@Cian: If all of Europe and plenty of the western world are in the same boat then I get the feeling they will write this off, if only to step up competition against China that escaped with its economy largely intact, if not its reputation.
@Jamo: I’ve buried someone close to me because of this virus very sad couldn’t say goodbye properly before they went however we’ve buried people before this and will do it long after this is life. Death shouldn’t cause a standstill of daily life.
@nelliekel: if your pub is closed, there is no bill to pay for the 500 pints. Lights/heating also minimal in a closed pub. Costs of running a closed pub considerably less than an open one
Its never going to go away when there is flights coming into the country. Sydney has being over 20 days of no locally transmitted cases but about 20 cases last week came into the country from returning travellers who were already in mandatory hotel isolation so it never got a chance to spread.
Forcing returning travellers into hotel quarantine is a big step but it works
@Séamus Heffernan: Sarcasm not needed. This is a ridiculous situation where we an island nation can’t control our ports or airports from incoming variants, and a border where the government up North is being condescending and obstructive. We should have this under better control
Serious moaners in this comment thread. One lad giving out to someone for being making a joke. “The situation is too serious for sarcasm”. Others basically pleading with the powers that be to lock them up.
“L
@john doe: “Lock us up and throwaway the key, we don’t deserve our freedom”
Get a hold of yourselves people. Be sensible, protect yourselves and your loved ones and you will be fine.
There are hundreds of variants and there have been since last year. They’re only speaking about it now to push their agenda of fear and keep us in lockdown for the next year.
@Marie Broomfield: LOL is right ..it certainly dose not impact them in their pockets anyways, plus they have got their pay rises too .. Its the Irish Taxpayer that will be paying for it not the Gov, as they did the gambling debts of the Banks..
@Marie Broomfield: Lesser of two evils compared to ambulances in hospital car parks and people dying in their care homes unattended. Gov can fudge the numbers and load a bit more on the national debt but it can’t fix the healthcare system overnight (or over 10 months).
First they said the death rate would be 3%. Then came kawasaki syndrome (that one didn’t really catch on), then ‘long covid’ and now it’s ‘variants’ (which is a good one because you can have an unlimited number of them). I’m not saying that these variants aren’t real, but they are clearly being used to keep the scare tactics going in order to maximise control. By the end of March, even by the government’s own projections, the majority of people who are vulnerable will have been vaccinated. It’s time to stop scaring people and start opening up. They could start by at least telling nursing home residents when they will get their freedom back, now that they have almost all been vaccinated. They were not even mentioned in the new ‘plan’. That should be bigger news than this latest variant.
@Jason Shortt: you do realise that the variants noted by scientists so far are faster spreading. Like any virus it’s mutating. It can evolve a version that is much harder to contain, one that is more deadly, one that will attack a younger person faster/harder. They are trying to limit the spread whilst they get people vaccinated. Globally. You are living through a piece of global history. It’s not fun, but it’s very real.
@Jason Shortt: long covid is a fact alot of people suffering months afterwards, i agree with u for the rest of wat u said , this will go on for years people need to get that into there head
Be grand lads .. bring it to our shores .. sure it’s a free for all anyway – no quarantine necessary .. just stay within 5k of where you’re staying though
@Vanessa: it’s the other way round the DUP and Arlene Foster and the unionists will not work with us down here
Get it. Right, every effort made to them has been rejected but that’s OK Michael Martin and FGFF are all best friends with them, you see it every day the Dáil sits as FGFF do not even give any republican a chance to bring up any questions without fffg. Talking about the IRA Who where only brought into the scene because fffg turned their backs on the nationalist people in the North
@Mickety Dee: every time there’s a sense of positivity they pull something out of the hat to keep the fear going.. people have copped onto the 3 day or 5 day trend BS, now they throw in a new variant.. haven’t even got a name for it..
US identified nearly 30 variants in circulation last week.. viruses mutate.. as they say in sport, you can only play what’s in front of you, get testing, isolate outbreaks and let the test of the people get on with living.
I hope this new variant was found within 5km from the airport. Because if not the carrier of it is going to get a €100 fine from the Garda. And they wouldn’t want that on top of having covid-19.
@Kehoe21: But said closure of this ‘gate’ is not mandatory, for fear of legal reprisals, according to Tanaiste. We would prefer that the horse bolts but everyone stays 5km away from it.
@Michael Hanley: we’ve an army doing nothing for years. Get them to man it. Plus we’re not closing the border, they just have to quarantine for two weeks before heading any further south.
@Michael Hanley: I am not a fan of not trying just because of the leaky bucket. Even if we do it in Dublin, Cork and Shannon airports, that will surely reduce the risk – and slow the spread of variants. It does not need to be a perfect solution with a border on the north. Also if it works in the south the north/Arlene may just copy us.
Nice to see in the height of this pandemic people presenting to the emergency depts is down 14% on this time last year ….. covid seems have averted the trolley crisis the first time in the history of the HSE. The virus also has reduced the number of cancer & Cardiac deaths 30% year on year. Long may it stick around dare I say ……
@Alan Leamy: While also voting against mandatory quarantine in the Dail this afternoon. It’s like they’re trying to be the worst government ever. Job done.
I have been saying for a while that we should continue lockdown till the end of 2021 and make sure everyone is vaccinated.Then we can have a new beginning in 2022..Its common sense.
@Marty Mc.: 1st step of easing of restrictions here in Zurich on Mar 1st . Im getting my vaccine tomorrow and my parents back home in Ireland still have no idea of when they will getting theirs.
@Da Dell: I wouldn’t be leaving any Americans in if I was ye. Sure wasn’t it obvious that the worst varient would come for a country of Muppets. The California strain resists our vaccines.
@Marty Mc.: You’ve also yet to explain how further demolishing people’s businesses and livelihoods is common sense. Or how businesses are supposed to go another 10 months closed and somehow be ready to go for 2022. The restrictions may be having absolutely no effect on you, but recent data suggests 60% of people are feeling their mental health very badly affected by this. There’s no common sense in this suggestion at all.
Nphet do not get to say when the country opens up.
And if Govt keep going this way it will lose people completely and it won’t matter what they say.
We have vaccines now. They work or they don’t. Life has to start going back to normal either way with mitigation’s once vulnerable are vaccinated. People will die of covid for the next 20 years.
Please take nphet off the tv. They should go to Govt buildings advise the Govt. Govt then make calls after social and economic advice also. We do not need nor is it good to see the single track minds narrative every night. They are an advisory board who are supposed to consider all health. They are focused on one area only meaning they have lost objectiveness.
@Pat Andrews: I posted a similar query and it was deleted. It appears that political correctness means you should refrain from asking that very relevant question —–Well according to the P.C. police!
Political correctness and the fear of being branded as racists mean that we are compelled to let everybody and everything that they’re carrying into this daft little country
Won’t be long until we have the Irish strain and watch how quickly foreign travel will be banned then by other countries, I don’t think the word proactive exists in the Irish language, shambles
I think this one might ask for your bank details to wire a substantial amount of itself over, as we’ve become the sole beneficiary of the kings inheritance.
I wish the gov. would for once just be honest and say why they don’t want to do border control. “We’re afraid of Michael O’Leary” “we have and always will prioritise tourists” .. whatever it is, I just want them to say it. Instead of heel dragging and having talks about having talks.
The Government are not listening to the Public. Both parties are now banned from getting my vote ever again. Close the ports and Airports and open the Country – Simples.
Larry Goodman doesn’t have to worry about any of this. The ex Nama plutocrats can continue building their own palaces undisturbed by Gardaí. Only builders without connections get shut down. Rules for the little people.
Fourth person dies following fatal shooting of mother and children in Co Fermanagh last week
42 mins ago
17.0k
tell me more
Q&A: What we know (and don't know) about the EU-US tariff deal
1 hr ago
2.4k
27
Listeria
Various branded spinach and mixed leaves recalled due to detection of listeria
Updated
27 Jul
87.0k
Your Cookies. Your Choice.
Cookies help provide our news service while also enabling the advertising needed to fund this work.
We categorise cookies as Necessary, Performance (used to analyse the site performance) and Targeting (used to target advertising which helps us keep this service free).
We and our 214 partners store and access personal data, like browsing data or unique identifiers, on your device. Selecting Accept All enables tracking technologies to support the purposes shown under we and our partners process data to provide. If trackers are disabled, some content and ads you see may not be as relevant to you. You can resurface this menu to change your choices or withdraw consent at any time by clicking the Cookie Preferences link on the bottom of the webpage . Your choices will have effect within our Website. For more details, refer to our Privacy Policy.
We and our vendors process data for the following purposes:
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
Cookies Preference Centre
We process your data to deliver content or advertisements and measure the delivery of such content or advertisements to extract insights about our website. We share this information with our partners on the basis of consent. You may exercise your right to consent, based on a specific purpose below or at a partner level in the link under each purpose. Some vendors may process your data based on their legitimate interests, which does not require your consent. You cannot object to tracking technologies placed to ensure security, prevent fraud, fix errors, or deliver and present advertising and content, and precise geolocation data and active scanning of device characteristics for identification may be used to support this purpose. This exception does not apply to targeted advertising. These choices will be signaled to our vendors participating in the Transparency and Consent Framework. The choices you make regarding the purposes and vendors listed in this notice are saved and stored locally on your device for a maximum duration of 1 year.
Manage Consent Preferences
Necessary Cookies
Always Active
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
Social Media Cookies
These cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Store and/or access information on a device 149 partners can use this purpose
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development 195 partners can use this purpose
Use limited data to select advertising 158 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Create profiles for personalised advertising 119 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Use profiles to select personalised advertising 120 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Create profiles to personalise content 51 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Use profiles to select personalised content 48 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Measure advertising performance 177 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Measure content performance 78 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data from different sources 111 partners can use this purpose
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Develop and improve services 116 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Use limited data to select content 51 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
Use precise geolocation data 65 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Actively scan device characteristics for identification 36 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Ensure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix errors 122 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Deliver and present advertising and content 126 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Match and combine data from other data sources 94 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Link different devices 67 partners can use this feature
Always Active
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Identify devices based on information transmitted automatically 116 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
Save and communicate privacy choices 103 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say