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Connacht Tribune

Child porn man breached bail by visiting US

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A 45-year-old Corrandulla man who faces sentence in November for having over 30,000 images of child pornography on his computer, was arrested at his home for breaching a condition of his bail by not disclosing to Gardaí that he owned a US passport – which he used to leave the country in recent weeks.

John Healy, from Gortroe, Corrandulla, pleaded guilty before Galway Circuit Criminal Court on May 16 last to two charges of being found in possession of child pornography, which contained images and videos of children posing nude and engaging in sexual activity, while he was in a public area at Riveroaks, Claregalway, and again at his home at Gortroe, Corrandulla, on October 30, 2014, contrary to Section 6(1) of the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act 1998.

Healy had initially been granted bail in the District Court. One of his bail conditions was that he surrender his passport to Gardaí and not apply for a new one or any other travel documents.

Healy surrendered his Irish passport to Gardaí at the time but did not tell them he had a US passport as well.

He was remanded on continuing bail with the same condition attached when his case was listed before the Circuit Criminal Court on April 30 last.  The matter was adjourned then to July 23 when a trial date was due to be set for later in the year.

Healy then applied to the Circuit Court for the return of his Irish passport so that he could travel to the States on holidays. The application was granted and Gardaí returned his passport to him on condition he surrender it again to them on his return.

Healy surrendered his Irish passport to Gardaí on his return and then he came back to court unexpectedly on May 16 and pleaded guilty to both charges.

He was again remanded on continuing bail to November 6 for sentence.

Meanwhile, Garda Aidan Quinn made enquiries with American Airlines about Healy’s visit to the States.

The airline confirmed to him that Healy had used a valid US passport to enter and leave the States and at no time had he used an Irish passport.

State prosecutor, Conor Fahy, informed the court that he wanted Healy brought in custody before the court to explain why he had breached his bail conditions, stating Healy had made an application to the court last month “under false pretences” for the return of his Irish passport so that he could travel to the US.

Judge McCabe issued the warrant and Garda Quinn travelled to Healy’s home and brought him in custody before the court.

Garda Quinn said Healy had handed over his US passport to him at his home that day.  The Garda said he intended keeping both passports pending completion of the case.

Garda Quinn said Healy told him he had not been aware he had to hand over his US passport as well as his Irish passport as part of his bail conditions.

In reply to Judge McCabe, Mr Fahy said he would not be looking for Healy to be remanded in custody now as the US passport had been handed over.

Defence barrister, Conal McCarthy said the issue with the US passport arose because his client ‘simply did not understand’ the court order regarding his passports.

Judge McCabe observed it was ‘unusual’ that Healy would seek the return of his Irish passport from Gardaí, while knowing he had another passport which entitled him to enter and leave the US.

Accepting that Garda Quinn had possession of both passports now and that the State was not looking for Healy to be remanded in custody, the judge said he would make no order.

Connacht Tribune

West has lower cancer survival rates than rest

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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.

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Connacht Tribune

Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents

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Galway's Aaron Niland is chased by Cillian O'Callaghan of Cork during Saturday's All-Ireland Minor Hurling semi-final at Semple Stadium. Photo: Stephen Marken/Sportsfile.

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 IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety

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Galway IFA Farm Family and Social Affairs Chair Teresa Roche

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.

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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.

Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite  HERE.

Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
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.

 

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