Connacht Tribune
Driver of van in which young woman died is spared jail after grieving parents seek leniency

The driver of the van, from which a young Furbo woman fell to her death nearly a year ago, has been given 200 hours of community service for his role in the tragedy.
The parents of 22-year-old Cliodhna Thornton had written to the investigating team, and asked that the same letter be sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions, requesting that the friend of their only daughter be shown leniency.
Although it was not clear that the DPP had heeded this plea, the only summonses facing mechanic, Ian Noone (25), of Woodstock, Moycullen Road, were for failing to stop the vehicle, failing to give information to Gardaí, failing to keep the vehicle at the scene, and failing to report the incident.
Garda Kieran Quinn told the court that there had been much confusion at the scene of the crash on November 20 last, as a lot of misinformation had been reported to Gardaí – it was days before the true story actually emerged.
He said that when he arrived at Tooreeney, Moycullen, at 2.24am, Ms Thornton was being resuscitated on the ground, while a second female was being treated for a head injury by ambulance personnel.
“We were told initially that it had been a hit-and-run, and that the vehicle had left the scene,” he said, adding that checkpoints had to be set up to apprehend the driver.
The only cars on the roadway, which links Moycullen and Barna, were those that had arrived after the accident.
The Garda said that it was only after he had taken forty witness statements that he was finally able to piece together what had happened. The group of friends had been out socialising in Moycullen that night, including Ms Thornton’s two brothers.
They had been unable to get a taxi home, so they piled into the van – four of the six passengers got into the back of the van, which had no seats nor restraints of any kind.
When the van turned right off the Moycullen Road to Barna, the sliding door at the side of the vehicle opened, and the two females fell out and suffered fatal injuries.
The vehicle would have been considered dangerously defective had there been passenger seats in the rear, but it was fit for purpose as a work van.
Judge Mary Fahy said that the defendant’s actions immediately after the accident said a lot about his friendship with Ms Thornton.
“I’m shocked – if you were such a good friend, you would have stayed at the scene,” she said.
“You were more interested in saving your own neck for three days, before admitting that you were the driver. The court is not impressed.”
Sean Thornton, father of the deceased girl, spoke up and said that Noone had been asked by the other passengers to remove the van from the scene, that it had not been his own decision. The Garda confirmed that the statements given by witnesses supported this claim.
Judge Fahy asked the young woman’s parents to confirm that they did not wish Noone to go to prison, despite the fact that his actions had been highly irresponsible.
Sean Thornton replied: “We feel it’s a tragedy, and has been very hard on everyone. We believe that he is a young lad with his life ahead of him. It will be hard for the rest of his life, and he has to carry this.”
In imposing 200 hours of community service and a five-year driving disqualification, Judge Fahy said that Noone had to pay some price for his role in Cliodhna’s death.
“I feel he’d be happier to give something back to the community,” she said in conclusion.
For more on this story, see the Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest

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.
Connacht Tribune
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents

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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Connacht Tribune
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety

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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