CITY TRIBUNE
Dangerous driver ‘could have caused fatal accident’
It was “but for the grace of God” that an apprentice mechanic’s dangerous driving didn’t end in a funeral, a judge has said.
Judge Brian O’Callaghan said Cian Small (21) “put Gardaí’s lives at risk, put pedestrians at risk and put himself at risk” during an incident on the outskirts of Galway City in March 2021.
“His behaviour was nothing short of appalling,” the judge added.
At Galway Circuit Court, Small appealed prison sentences handed down by the district court for driving offences.
He continued: “It’s but for the grace of God that people were not going to a funeral because of his actions.”
Small, with an address The Cottage, The Lane, Killoughter, was convicted of driving offences including dangerous driving, drug driving, driving without a license and driving without insurance.
The offences relate to incidents near Polkeen, Castlegar on March 29, 2021.
Outlining the facts of the case, State Solicitor for Galway West, William Kennedy, said the accused was driving a blue Audi A6 that came to the attention of Gardaí.
Mr Kennedy said Gardaí attempted to stop Small’s car but he continued to drive at “excessive speed on narrow country roads”.
The car narrowly missed hitting a pedestrian before eventually crashing into a wall. Small took off running, but was apprehended by a Garda a short distance from the vehicle.
Mr Kennedy said a subsequent blood test showed 21.8 milligrams of cannabis per 100 millilitres of blood.
Defence counsel, Michael Clancy BL, said: “Mr Small comes before the court ashamed of his past.”
Counsel said the custodial sentence handed down by the district court was a “frank wake up call for Mr Small”.
Mr Clancy said his client has made significant progress since 2021, attending all appointments with the probation services and doing “above and beyond” what was asked of him.
Counsel said his client has attended a driving course and other training courses.
The court heard Small is an apprentice mechanic and positive testimonials from his previous and current employers were handed into court.
Counsel said his client is now negative of all controlled substances, contributes to society and is fully remorseful.
“He now fixes people’s cars, of all things,” Mr Clancy added.
Judge O’Callaghan noted that on the day of the incident, Gardaí attempted to stop Small’s car on three different occasions.
The accused showed “total disdain” for authority and people who were there to protect him.
The only positive aspect of the case is everything the accused has done, “belatedly”, since the offence.
The judge said the court will proceed on the basis of what the accused had done since 2021.
He affirmed the order of the district court but varied a three-month prison sentence from concurrent to consecutive. The judge said that left a total sentence of six months.
He suspended the sentence in its entirety. The judge said he was doing this because of a number of factors including the accused’s age and good work ethic.
“The court hopes he realises what he did and realises what damage he could have done,” he added.
Small was also ordered to pay €1,000 to the Garda Benevolent Fund.
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.”
The new Salmon Weir pedestrian and cycle bridge will be officially opened to the public next Friday, May 26.
Work on the €10 million bridge got underway in April 2022, before the main structure was hoisted into place in early December.
A lunchtime tape-cutting ceremony will take place on Friday, as the first pedestrians and cyclists traverse the as-yet-unnamed bridge.
The Chief Executive of Galway City Council, Brendan McGrath, previously said the bridge, once opened, would remove existing conflicts between pedestrians, cyclists and traffic “as well as facilitating the Cross-City Link public transport corridor over the existing 200-year-old bridge”.
The naming of the new bridge has been under discussion by the Council’s Civic Commemorations Committee since late last year.
One name that has been in the mix for some time is that of the first woman in Europe to graduate with an engineering degree – Alice Perry.
Ms Perry, who was from Wellpark, graduated from Queen’s College Galway (now University of Galway) in 1906. The university’s engineering building is named in her honour.
The bridge was built by Jons Civil Engineering firm in County Meath and was assembled off-site before being transported to Galway. Funding for the project was provided in full by the National Transport Authority and the European Regional Development Fund.
(Photo: Sheila Gallagher captured the city’s new pedestrian footbridge being raised on the south side of the Salmon Weir Bridge in December. It will officially open next Friday, May 26).
From the Galway City Tribune – Minister of State for Local Government and Planning, Kieran O’Donnell was labelled a “disgrace” for overturning councillors’ decisions to rezone land in the new City Development Plan.
Minister O’Donnell (pictured) confirmed in a letter to Council Chief Executive Brendan McGrath last week that he was reversing 25 material alternations made by councillors to the CDP 2023-29. He made the decision on the advice of Office of Planning Regulator (OPR).
Minister O’Donnell directed that 14 land parcels that were subject to land-use zoning changes by councillors as part of the Material Alterations to the Draft CDP should be reversed.
He directed that a further 11 land parcels in the city should become “unzoned”.
The Minister found that the CDP had not been made in a manner consistent with recommendations of the OPR, which required specific changes to the plan to ensure consistency with the national planning laws and guidelines.
At last week’s Council meeting Cllr Eddie Hoare (FG) asked for clarity on the process by which councillors could rezone the lands that had been changed by the Minister’s direction.
Cllr Declan McDonnell said, “What he [Minister O’Donnell] has done is an absolute disgrace”.
And he asked: “Do we have to have another development plan meeting to deal with it?”
Both Cllrs Hoare and McDonnell wondered what would become of the lands that were rezoned or unzoned by the ministerial direction.
Mr McGrath said the Council had put forward an argument in favour of retaining the material alterations in the plan, but ultimately the Minister sided with OPR.
He said if councillors want to make alterations to the new plan, they could go through the process of making a material alteration but this was lengthy.
The Save Roscam Peninsula campaign welcomed the Minister’s decision.
In a statement to the Galway City Tribune, it said the direction would mean the Roscam village area on the Roscam Peninsula will be unzoned and a number of land parcels would revert back to agriculture/high amenity.
A spokesperson for the campaign said: “the material alterations made by city councillors following lobbying by developers continued the long-standing practice of councillors facilitating a developer-led plan rather than an evidence- and policy-based plan that meets the needs of the city.
“The Minister’s direction is an important step in restoring confidence in the planning system. It is clear from the City Council’s own evidence on future housing projections that there was no requirement to zone these lands for residential purposes in order to meet the needs of the targeted population increase up to 2029,” the spokesperson added.
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