News
Burglar went on crime spree after he was given bail
A 23-year-old burglar, who went on a crime spree after he was released on bail to attend a residential treatment centre, will never rehabilitate if he does not confront issues from his childhood, a court has heard.
Gerard Barry, 17 Leas an Coille, Ballybane, was released on bail last February by Judge Rory McCabe at Galway Circuit Criminal Court, after the judge was told he was prepared to undergo treatment and counselling at a residential treatment centre.
A condition of his bail was that he remain in the treatment centre but Barry left and was arrested and charged last October with a spate of new burglary and robbery offences.
Barry had pleaded guilty before Galway Circuit Criminal Court in November 2014, to five sample charges of burglaries at houses in Rinn Luachra, Cnoc na Coille and Castlepark on May 25 last year.
He pleaded guilty also to causing criminal damage to window and door locks at two other houses in Rinn Luachra on the same date.
Sergeant Darragh Browne gave evidence at the time that Barry broke into nine houses on the night of May 25 last year; six houses in Rinn Luachra, two in Cnoc na Coille and one in Castlepark,
He attempted five other burglaries on the same night while damage totalling €1,500 was done to all of the houses.
Barry was subsequently charged with fourteen counts of burglary and criminal damage and pleaded guilty to five of the charges.
Barry told Gardai at the time of his arrest that he had taken a concoction of sleeping tablets on the night. He claimed he could not remember the break-ins and woke up later with the two bags of stolen items beside him.
Sgt. Browne said all of the items were recovered and returned to the owners but no compensation for the damage caused to the houses was ever paid.
He added Barry had no history of employment and had 37 previous convictions, including nine for burglary, one for robbery and two for thefts.
Defence barrister, Geri Silke said Barry had been in custody since May 26 last year.
She said he suffered from ADHD, had a long history of alcohol and drug abuse but now wanted to change his life around.
At that time, Judge Rory McCabe sought assurances from Ms Silke that concrete plans with support services for Barry’s rehabilitation were put in place before he would be released from custody.
That chance came in February, when Judge McCabe finally released Barry from custody.
Ms Silke told the court then that her client was now engaging with the probation service and finally wanted to get treatment for his drug and alcohol addictions.
She said he had a good relationship with his parents and would be living with his father, Carlo Barry.
“Ideally, he would like to get a place of his own. He is very bright and very anxious to get on,” Ms Silke said of her client.
Judge McCabe placed Barry on a probation bond for six months on terms as set out in the latest probation report on him handed into court.
The judge said the court would review the matter again in July and he wished Barry well in his rehabilitation process.
Prosecuting barrister, Conor Fahy was not as optimistic. He asked for liberty to re-enter the matter at any stage in the event Barry breached any of the terms of his bail bond.
Mr Fahy was right to be cautious.
Barry was brought back before the court recently in custody. It heard he had left a residential treatment programme he had been engaged in as part of his bail conditions.
Det. Sgt. Willie Byrne gave evidence Barry was arrested on October 4 last in relation to a robbery with violence and he had since been charged with that.
He said Barry had also been charged with two other robberies, two burglaries and with taking a car. All of the offences, he said, occurred between September 7 and October 4 last.
He said Barry had also been charged with assaulting a female prison officer in Castlerea on October 23.
He confirmed the charges had not yet come before the courts.
Ms Silke said Barry was accepting what he did was wrong and he did get into trouble. She said he had been staying off everything for five months and in treatment but when he came to the stage in his treatment where he had to discuss things that happened in his youth, he was not able to deal with that.
“He lost the head and left the treatment centre and took drugs and drink,” she said.
Ms Silke said she knew that Barry had psychological problems and he would need the help of a psychologist to help him confront his past.
Judge Rory McCabe said the only way Barry would get help was if he got it in a controlled environment.
Ms Silke said Barry was very intelligent and what he was doing was such a waste of a life.
Judge McCabe remanded Barry in continuing custody to March 15 and directed he be assessed by a psychologist while in prison.
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.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
On the eve of completing his 150th marathon, an odyssey that has taken him across 53 countries, Loughrea’s Marathon Man has announced that he is planning to hang up his running shoes.
But not before Jarlath Fitzgerald completes another ten races, making it 160 marathons on the occasion of his 60th birthday.
“I want to draw the line in 2026. I turn 57 in October and when I reach 60 it’s the finishing line. The longer races are taking it out of me. I did 20 miles there two weeks ago and didn’t feel good. It’s getting harder,” he reveals.
“I’ve arthritis in both hips and there’s wear and tear in the knees.”
We speak as he is about to head out for a run before his shift in Supervalu Loughrea. Despite his physical complaints, he still clocks up 30 miles every second week and generally runs four days a week.
Jarlath receives injections to his left hip to keep the pain at bay while running on the road.
To give his joints a break, during the winter he runs cross country and often does a five-mile trek around Kylebrack Wood.
He is planning on running his 150th marathon in Cork on June 4, where a group of 20 made up of work colleagues, friends and running mates from Loughrea Athletics Club will join him.
Some are doing the 10k, others are doing the half marathon, but all will be there on the finishing line to cheer him on in the phenomenal achievement.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
From the Galway City Tribune – An impassioned plea for a ‘masterplan’ that would guide Galway City into the future has been made in the Dáil. Galway West TD Catherine Connolly stated this week that there needed to be an all-inclusive approach with “vision and leadership” in order to build a sustainable city.
Deputy Connolly spoke at length at the crisis surrounding traffic and housing in Galway city and said that not all of the blame could be laid at the door of the local authority.
She said that her preference would be the provision of light rail as the main form of public transport, but that this would have to be driven by the government.
“I sat on the local council for 17 years and despaired at all of the solutions going down one road, metaphorically and literally. In 2005 we put Park & Ride into the development plan, but that has not been rolled out. A 2016 transport strategy was outdated at the time and still has not been updated.
“Due to the housing crisis in the city, a task force was set up in 2019. Not a single report or analysis has been published on the cause of the crisis,” added Deputy Connolly.
She then referred to a report from the Land Development Agency (LDA) that identified lands suitable for the provision of housing. But she said that two-thirds of these had significant problems and a large portion was in Merlin Park University Hospital which, she said, would never have housing built on it.
In response, Minister Simon Harris spoke of the continuing job investment in the city and also in higher education, which is his portfolio.
But turning his attention to traffic congestion, he accepted that there were “real issues” when it came to transport, mobility and accessibility around Galway.
“We share the view that we need a Park & Ride facility and I understand there are also Bus Connects plans.
“I also suggest that the City Council reflect on her comments. I am proud to be in a Government that is providing unparalleled levels of investment to local authorities and unparalleled opportunities for local authorities to draw down,” he said.
Then Minister Harris referred to the controversial Galway City Outer Ring Road which he said was “struck down by An Bord Pleanála”, despite a lot of energy having been put into that project.
However, Deputy Connolly picked up on this and pointed out that An Bord Pleanála did not say ‘No’ to the ring road.
“The High Court said ‘No’ to the ring road because An Bord Pleanála acknowledged it failed utterly to consider climate change and our climate change obligations.
“That tells us something about An Bord Pleanála and the management that submitted such a plan.”
In the end, Minister Harris agreed that there needed to be a masterplan for Galway City.
“I suggest it is for the local authority to come up with a vision and then work with the Government to try to fund and implement that.”
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
