News
Curfew man is jailed for breaching terms of bail
A 23-year-old man has had a suspended sentence activated by a Circuit Court judge after he committed other offences during the period of the suspension and also breached the terms of bail set for him by the High Court in recent weeks.
Chris Goldbey, of 78 Fana Burca, Knocknacarra, had been ordered by the High Court prior to Christmas to stay out of Knocknacarra and reside with his aunt in Ballybannagher, Corofin, Tuam.
He then appeared before Galway District Court on January 4 last in relation to a number of charges including burglaries and handling stolen property and pleaded guilty to all of them when he again appeared before the court last week.
However, when inspector Mick Dwyer told the court that Goldbey had 47 previous convictions, including one for driving without insurance, for which he had received a three-month sentence (which had been suspended for one year on condition he not reoffend), at Galway Circuit Court this time last year, Judge Mary Fahy said she could not proceed to sentencing for the charges before the District Court as Goldbey had reoffended during the period of the suspension imposed in the Circuit Court and that matter would have to be dealt with first.
She remanded him in custody to appear before the Circuit Court on Tuesday where Judge Karen O’Connor promptly activated the suspended three-month sentence.
Goldbey had initially been remanded on continuing bail, as set by the High Court, to February when he appeared before the District Court on January 4.
The court heard then that bail was granted in the High Court before Christmas on condition he stay away from the Knocknacarra area, reside with his aunt near Tuam, sign on three times a week at Tuam Garda Station, observe a nightly curfew, and have no contact with any witnesses by any means.
Goldbey was brought back before the court last Monday by Garda Fergal Kilbane who gave evidence the accused had breached some of his bail conditions.
He said he had observed Goldbey in Knocknacarra twice on January 5.
He had seen him leaving his home in Knocknacarra at 1pm that day and later on that evening he stopped and searched him at Ballymoneen Road, where he found him in possession of stolen football jerseys.
He applied to the court to have Goldbey’s bail revoked.
Defence solicitor, John Martin said his client was not objecting to the application and he wished to plead guilty to all charges before the court.
Garda Kilbane then gave evidence that he stopped and searched Goldbey at Ballymoneen Road at 7pm on January 5 last and found two football jerseys in a rucksack he was carrying. The tags from Lifestyle Sports were still attached to them.
He later charged Goldbey with handling the jerseys knowing they were stolen.
Inspector Dwyer said that on November 8 last year, Goldbey and another male caused €400 of damage when they broke into a business premises in Salthill and stole €100 in coins and an iPad mini.
On Friday, November 19 last, Goldbey smashed a side window in a house at An Leargán, Western Distributor Road, filled a suitcase he found inside with a 20-inch TV, a Wii console and €3,385 worth of jewellery, along with several bottles of perfume.
Gardai searched his home on November 25, but only managed to recover a bracelet and a watch stolen from the house. The rest of the items were never recovered.
Insp Dwyer said Goldbey broke into the Mace store at Carnmore Cross on October 15 last.
The alarm and CCTV cameras were disabled before Goldbey took tiles off the roof to gain entry to the premises where he stole €1,200 in cash and boxes of cigarettes.
He was found walking in the area at around 2.45am by Garda Pat Fahy, Insp. Dwyer said.
Garda Fahy later obtained a search warrant and found four packets of Laser razor blades at Goldbey’s address. He was subsequently charged with handling the items, which were also taken during the burglary.
Goldbey was brought back in custody before the Galway District Court last Wednesday where he was given a further ten month sentence for a burglary at a residence in Knocknacarra on November 19 last. That is consecutive to his current sentence.
He also got a further three month sentence for handling stolen property on October 15 last.
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
