Former Tipperary TD and Councillor Noel Coonan, Templemore, has been appointed as Chairperson of the Tipperary Community Safety Partnership(CSP) by Justice Minister Helen McEntee. The Partnership is a new initiative of the Government designed to enable communities to address issues of public safety. Mr Coonan expressed interest in the voluntary position as a means of giving back to the community – he has previously served as chairperson of the Tipperary Joint Policing Committee which will no longer operate.
Mr Coonan says the new CSP will include 7 nominated councillors and representatives from the wider community. The CSP is to meet at least four times a year and will include a new area of work in that it can apply to the Community Safety Fund for finance for measures to improve any aspect of safety in the county. The Community Safety Fund is to be financed by assets seized by the Criminal Assets Bureau.
The seven councillors on the Partnership are Independents Andy Moloney, Richie Molloy and Shane Lee alongside Fine Gael councillors Declan Burgess and Peggy Ryan and Fianna Fáil’s Imelda Goldsboro and Labour councillor Michael Brennan. The partnership is not expected to hold its first meeting until early 2025 and will be supported by two full time staff funded by the Department of Justice but based in Tipperary County Council offices.
