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Galway man gets four year sentence for raping sister
Galway Bay fm newsroom – A Galway man has been sentenced to four years in prison with the final 18 months suspended for raping his eight-year-old sister when he was 17-years-old.
The now 54-year-old father of eight, had denied the charge at the Central Criminal Court.
But last month a jury convicted him of raping the now 46-year-old woman between 1975 and 1976.
A local sergeant told Senior Counsel Patrick McGrath, prosecuting, that the victim’s older sister found her upset and bleeding in their bed immediately after the rape.
The sister reported the incident to their mother that night but after what counsel termed “a heated argument”, this sister washed the victim, put her in fresh clothes and left the family home with the girl to stay in a friend’s home.
Mr McGrath said the rape was not reported until the victim went to the gardaí in October 2010.
The man was arrested but denied his sister’s allegation.
The sergeant told Mr McGrath that the man, who had worked in the army, has several children.
Defence Counsel Martin Giblin asked Justice Garrett Sheehan to accept that his client hadn’t delayed the case coming to the courts by intimidation.
He handed in a number of testimonials which described the man as being a good father and well thought of in the community.
Justice Sheehan said rape was “an extremely serious crime” and emphasised the suffering the victim has endured.
The mitigating factors include the fact that the offence took place 38 years ago and the young age of the defendant at the time.
He sentenced him to four years in prison with the final 18 months suspended.
The accused was also ordered to complete a sex offenders’ rehabilitation programme in prison.
He must also keep the peace for five years and remain under the supervision of the probation services for one year after his release from jail.
The death has occurred of the former Bishop of Galway, Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora Martin Drennan, six years after he announced his retirement on health grounds. He was aged 78.
The Galway Diocesan Office confirmed the death this (Saturday) afternoon of the Bishop and Apostolic Administrator Emeritus, who oversaw the Diocese for eleven years.
Born on January 2, 1944 in Piltown, County Kilkenny, he studied for the priesthood at Saint Patrick’s College, Maynooth, from where he was ordained to the priesthood in 1968. His brother Michael is also a priest.
Following his ordination, he continued his studies in Rome where he was awarded a Licentiate in both sacred theology and sacred scripture. He returned to Rome in 1980 to become spiritual director at the Pontifical Irish College for the next five years.
He became a lecturer in sacred scripture at Saint Patrick’s College, Maynooth, where he continued to teach until his appointment as Auxiliary Bishop of Dublin in 1997 with responsibility for East Wicklow and South Dublin.
Following the retirement of Bishop James McLoughlin, Bishop Drennan was appointed Bishop of Galway and Kilmacduagh and Apostolic Administrator of Kilfenora and he was installed on July 3, 2005 in Galway Cathedral.
Outgoing Cllr Terry O’Flaherty (Ind) is on course to retain her City Council seat – and top the poll in City East.
With 33% of the boxes tallied, Cllr O’Flaherty is polling strongly, particularly in Renmore.
Michael John Crowe is ahead of his running mate Alan Cheevers for the Fianna Fáil vote, according to the early figures, although that could change when Doughiska and Roscam boxes are opened.
The Green Party’s Claire Hillery is on about 7%, with Fine Gael on 10% and Sinn Fein on 5%.
The opening of boxes for the local elections began at 9am this morning in Leisureland when the tallymen (and women) kicked into gear.
As regards the Galway County Council elections, the smaller areas are being opened first which means that the four-seater Connemara North boxes will be first in the pecking order.
It will be followed by Gort-Kinvara (5 seats), Connemara South (5 seats), Athenry-Oranmore (7 seats), Ballinasloe (6 seats), Loughrea (5 seats) and finally Tuam (7 seats).
The boxes in these areas will be opened and tallied in that particular order before being transferred to the Galway Lawn Tennis Club on Threadneedle Road where the counting will commence around mid-morning.
That is when the fun will really begin – although the tallies should give a good indication as to where most of the seats are destined.
As regards the city, the Galway City East boxes were opened first, followed by Galway City Central and finally Galway City West. These votes will be transferred to the Westside Centre by around 11am for counting.
There are 39 seats on Galway County Council to be filled with 18 on Galway City Council. The City Council count is expected to conclude on Saturday night but the County Council count – with seven electoral areas to be filled – could well go into Monday.
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