News
Career criminal caught red-handed with sawn-off gun
A 25-year-old Tuam man has been sentenced to five years in prison after being caught red-handed with a sawn-off shotgun in suspicious circumstances.
Edward Conroy, a father of three from 122 Parkmore Estate, Tuam, appeared in custody before Galway Circuit Criminal Court last Friday where he pleaded guilty to the possession of a single-barrel, sawn-off shotgun in suspicious circumstances on September 1 last year and to driving while disqualified, driving without insurance and driving while drunk at the time.
Garda Mark Shine gave evidence he received a call that Conroy was sitting in a car, armed with a slash hook, outside a house at Gilmartin Road at 12.10am that night and he went to investigate.
Conroy had driven off by the time Garda Shine arrived at the house two minutes later and he drove around looking for him.
He noticed Conroy’s car at short distance away. It took off at speed, mounting the footpath as it did so. Garda Shine said he activated the siren and blue lights on the patrol car and gave chase.
Conroy drove into Tierboy estate and crashed into a wall. He then ran from the car carrying a gun in his right hand. He hopped over a wall into a field and headed in the direction of Gilmartin Road.
Garda Shine found the gun just inside the wall. Conroy was subsequently arrested and questioned.
He made full admissions, admitting he had the gun in his possession at the time and that he had discarded it behind the wall while running away from Garda Shine.
During Garda interview, Conroy claimed he had found the gun while tending horses near the railway line.
He denied having the shotgun to threaten others and he claimed he hung onto it because he had found it.
Garda Shine said the accused denied being involved in any ongoing feud in Tuam and Gardaí believed he was telling the truth about that.
The court heard Conroy had 74 previous convictions for assaults, burglaries, thefts, driving while disqualified, dangerous driving, criminal damage and failing to appear in court.
Garda Shine confirmed Conroy was currently serving a sentence for burglary and had been out on bail when these offences were committed.
In reply to Judge Rory McCabe, Garda Shine said Conroy had not told him who owned the gun and he claimed to have found it lying near the railway.
Reading from a very unfavourable probation report which had been handed into court, Judge McCabe asked: “Where’s he getting the money for his expensive cocaine, heroin and cannabis habit?”
Defence barrister, Michael Miley said his client was unemployed and in receipt of social welfare. He had married when he was 17 and had three children.
Judge McCabe said Conroy had told two very different stories about the gun’s provenance. He had told the probation service one story about how he came to be in possession of the gun and that the owner of the gun had asked him to return it.
Then, in his letter which had just been handed into court, Judge McCabe said Conroy had claimed he was in a distraught state of mind at the time and the gun had made him feel safe and helped to alleviate his mental state.
The judge said he had heard or read nothing to convince him that Conroy had any intention of rehabilitating himself while in prison.
“His pattern of lawlessness will continue, as outlined by the probation service, and I’m not prepared to make any allowances for rehabilitation,” Judge McCabe said before sentencing Conroy to five years in prison.
He imposed three, concurrent four-month sentences for the motoring offences, which he made consecutive to the five-year sentence and he disqualified Conroy for five years.
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
