Year in Review - Plenty of good news across Laois in June

A Laois judge announced a bumper windfall for local charities and sports clubs in June as he detailed the allocation of Ireland's largest Court Poor Box.

A whopping €301,000 was distributed from the Court Poor Box with half the money coming from first-time offenders found with drugs at the annual Electric Picnic festival in Stradbally.

The Poor Box from Court District 15 is the largest in the country, primarily due to donations associated with the Electric Picnic.
The funds this year include €104,000 which was seized by gardaí during criminal investigations along with 6,000 litres of diesel.

The fuel was donated to Portlaoise Rugby Club to power a generator to floodlight the pitches.

There was more good news in June as a Laois company announced plans to more than double its workforce with a multi million euro investment.

Located in Junction 17 National Enterprise Park, Portlaoise, since 2023, Alpha Drives & Switchgear employs 25 people and produces electrical equipment for a range of industries.

A new 38,000 sq foot extension for a manufacturing assembly area is expected to be completed in 2026. The expansion is focused on growing the electrical switchgear department. The additional space and capacity will allow the company to take on larger and more complex projects.

“The Phase 2 expansion represents a €3.5 million investment, fully funded by the company. We are proud to say that most of this investment is being spent locally – John Conlon Construction, Portlaoise-based contractor, is managing the build and all materials are being sourced from local suppliers. Following completion, we hope to create up to 30 new jobs,” Alpha Drives & Switchgear Managing Director John Dwan said.

Alpha Drives & Switchgear is thriving, thanks in no small part to its location in Laois. “Portlaoise has proven to be a very strategic location for us. Its central position in Ireland and excellent road infrastructure provides ideal access to key regions nationwide, giving us logistical advantages and increased flexibility when serving customers across multiple sectors,” Mr Dwan explained.

The company supplies a range of industries including data centres, wastewater, food and beverage, and the chemical/pharmaceutical sectors.

Following a shocking RTE investigates programme, a former staff member of The Residence, Portlaoise, who had to leave her job due to ‘mental stress’, said she was in tears watching the report into the facility.

Health care assistant Justine Hibberd spoke to the Leinster Express/ Laois Live about her experience working at the Laois nursing home where 'abuse and neglect' of residents has been exposed.

Ms Hibberd alleges that staff received ‘no support’ from management, and that the moving of residents was handled incorrectly ‘every day, morning to night’.

“I cried when I watched the documentary. I found it difficult because I knew who the residents and staff were, it was upsetting to see that nothing has changed,” Ms Hibberd said.

Also in June, a woman who was sexually assaulted by a Laois piercing and tattoo artist says reporting the crime and pursuing a conviction is one of her proudest achievements.

Karen Kelly hoped to encourage other people who have been sexually assaulted to come forward and get justice after her experience at the hands of the predator who worked in Portlaoise.

Karen was one of three victims Paul Kelleher (61) of Esker Gate, Mountmellick, was convicted of sexually assaulting. The former soldier, who was also convicted of sexually assaulting a teenage girl at his tattoo parlour, was sentenced to nine years in prison with the final year suspended for a year at the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court earlier in the year.

His offending took place at Newfaze Ink in Portlaoise on dates between August and December 2015 and in January 2018.