Connacht Tribune
Pensioner gets suspended sentence over pitchfork threat
A dispute over a stone boundary wall led a Conamara pensioner to threaten his neighbour with a pitchfork.
Martin Staunton (67) of Leitir Caladh, Leitir Mór, was handed a three-month suspended prison sentence for producing a pitchfork during the course of a dispute, which was capable of inflicting serious injury, to intimidate his neighbour, Matt Flaherty.
Staunton had denied the charge during a lengthy contested hearing at the July sitting of Derrynea District Court.
Before sentencing, Judge Mary Fahy said it was the “age old story – it’s all about land or boundary walls”.
“Life is short. Land and walls will be there long after us,” she added.
Matt Flaherty told the court that on April 16, 2019, he was working on his land and chatting to a friend, Oliver Conroy, when the defendant and his partner, Peggy Keane, pulled up in a black jeep.
He said Peggy Keane got out of the car and shouted abuse at him. She warned him to “F*ck off” and “leave the wall alone”, he said.
He said that Staunton got out of the jeep with a pitchfork and threatened him and went after him with it. In reply to defending solicitor, Michael McDarby, he denied there was a feud. “He attacked me out of the blue,” Mr Flaherty said.
Mr McDarby said that Mr Flaherty had been interfering with the boundary walls of his client for some time; he denied this.
Nora Coyne, a niece of Staunton’s and partner of Mr Flaherty’s, called Gardaí on the day. She was working in a nearby clinic, when she saw Staunton in her garden with a long implement in his hand. She said she panicked, and rang Mr Flaherty, who told her to ring Gardaí.
Ms Coyne told the court that Staunton was her favourite uncle of sixty years, and Mr Flaherty was her partner of 24 years. “My heart is broken,” she said.
In his evidence, Oliver Conroy, said he was chatting to Mr Flaherty when Staunton and Peggy Keane, who he did not know, pulled up in a jeep. Ms Keane, he said, got out of the jeep and was screaming and shouting and told Mr Flaherty to “get away from the wall”.
At first, Mr Conroy said, he thought it was a joke. “I didn’t understand what was happening, so I said, ‘how are you?’ to her”, he said.
Mr Conroy said that Staunton took a pitchfork from the vehicle and threatened Mr Flaherty with it.
He confirmed that Staunton was on Mr Flaherty’s land, and that Mr Flaherty had to retreat away from him.
“He was walking fast towards him with a pitchfork,” he said. When he knew Mr Flaherty wasn’t injured, he left because the dispute had nothing to do with, Mr Conroy added.
Ms Keane said she was returning from the local shop with Staunton, when they saw “Matt with our wall knocked”.
She confirmed she told Mr Conroy to leave and told Mr Flaherty to leave the wall alone.
“He (Matt Flaherty) called me every name under the sun. I’m well used to it. I probably gave it back to him as well,” she said.
Ms Keane and her partner both denied that Staunton had taken a pitchfork from the back of his vehicle.
They both said that Mr Flaherty had a pitchfork in his hands while working at the wall, and Staunton had taken the pitchfork off him.
Staunton denied that he was a danger to Mr Flaherty. He said that he jumped out of the vehicle, took a pitchfork off Mr O’Flaherty and told him to go home.
Judge Mary Fahy said that pitchforks and threats were not the way to deal with land disputes or disagreements over boundary walls. She said that if there was an issue with a boundary wall, then they should’ve contacted their solicitor and initiated legal proceedings.
The court heard that Staunton had two previous convictions from the early 1990s, for which he received prison sentences.
Judge Fahy imposed a three-months suspended sentence and ordered Staunton to have no contact with the complainant or witnesses.
The hearing proceeded in both Irish and English. It was adjourned previously because of the unavailability of an Irish language interpreter. Despite another request for an Irish interpreter, none was in Derrynea for the hearing and Judge Fahy translated evidence heard in Irish for the benefit of Mr McDarby and others, who did not have Irish.
Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
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Galway 3-18
Cork 1-10
NEW setting; new opposition; new challenge. It made no difference to the Galway minor hurlers as they chalked up a remarkable sixth consecutive double digits championship victory at Semple Stadium on Saturday.
The final scoreline in Thurles may have been a little harsh on Cork, but there was no doubting Galway’s overall superiority in setting up only a second-ever All-Ireland showdown against Clare at the same venue on Sunday week.
Having claimed an historic Leinster title the previous weekend, Galway took a while to get going against the Rebels and also endured their first period in a match in which they were heavily outscored, but still the boys in maroon roll on.
Beating a decent Cork outfit by 14 points sums up how formidable Galway are. No team has managed to lay a glove on them so far, and though Clare might ask them questions other challengers haven’t, they are going to have to find significant improvement on their semi-final win over 14-man Kilkenny to pull off a final upset.
Galway just aren’t winning their matches; they are overpowering the teams which have stood in their way. Their level of consistency is admirable for young players starting off on the inter-county journey, while the team’s temperament appears to be bombproof, no matter what is thrown at them.
Having romped through Leinster, Galway should have been a bit rattled by being only level (0-4 each) after 20 minutes and being a little fortunate not to have been behind; or when Cork stormed out of the blocks at the start of the second half by hitting 1-4 to just a solitary point in reply, but there was never any trace of panic in their ranks.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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GARDAÍ and the IFA have issued a joint appeal to all road users to take extra care as the silage season gets under way across the country.
Silage harvesting started in many parts of Galway last week – and over the coming month, the sight of tractors and trailers on rural roads will be getting far more frequent.
Inspector Conor Madden, who is in charge of Galway Roads Policing, told the Farming Tribune that a bit of extra care and common-sense from all road users would go a long way towards preventing serious collisions on roads this summer.
“One thing I would ask farmers and contractors to consider is to try and get more experienced drivers working for them.
“Tractors have got faster and bigger – and they are also towing heavy loads of silage – so care and experience are a great help in terms of accident prevention,” Inspector Madden told the Farming Tribune.
He said that tractor drivers should always be aware of traffic building up behind them and to pull in and let these vehicles pass, where it was safe to do so.
“By the same token, other road users should always exercise extra care; drive that bit slower; and ‘pull in’ that bit more, when meeting tractors and heavy machinery.
“We all want to see everyone enjoying a safe summer on our roads – that extra bit of care, and consideration for other roads users can make a huge difference,” said Conor Madden.
He also advised motorists and tractor drivers to be acutely aware of pedestrians and cyclists on the roads during the summer season when more people would be out walking and cycling on the roads.
The IFA has also joined in on the road safety appeal with Galway IFA Farm Family and Social Affairs Chair Teresa Roche asking all road users to exercise that extra bit of care and caution.
“We are renewing our annual appeal for motorists to be on the look out for tractors, trailers and other agricultural machinery exiting from fields and farmyards,” she said.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
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The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
