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CITY TRIBUNE

Jail for mucky duo who were up to no good

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Two suspected burglars, who were found soaking wet and covered in muck, told Gardaí they were in Galway late at night having affairs with married women.

Members of the armed Regional Support Unit, along with Detectives Gerry Carroll and Ronan Leonard, responded to a call from a Castlegar resident that a 4×4 with two occupants was acting suspiciously in the area.

They carried out a search and stopped Declan Meehan (44), and Sean Hogan (39), both from Cork City, in a two-seater jeep at Twomileditch, Castlegar, at 2.50am on May 10 last year.

Hogan was driving the jeep, while Meehan was a front seat passenger.

Gardaí found a crowbar, two bolt cutters, numerous Stanley knives, gloves, screwdrivers and several small torches thrown on the floor between the two seats.

Both men pleaded not guilty before Galway District Court to being found in possession of the implements with the intention they be used in connection with theft/burglary.

Hogan did admit driving without insurance or a driving licence on the night because he was already disqualified for ten years.

After hearing evidence during the fully contested hearing, Judge Mary Fahy said it was clear that the Cork men were not in Galway that night for ‘romancing and dancing’ and she sentenced both of them to twelve months in prison for having the implements in their possession.

She imposed an additional four-month sentence on Hogan for driving without insurance while already disqualified, and disqualified him from driving for ten years.

Garda Leonard told the hearing he searched Meehan at the scene and found gloves, a torch and a Stanley knife in his jacket pocket.

He said he asked the men what business they had in Galway at that hour of the night and they said they had gone for a spin and ended up in Galway.

“Both of them were soaked and covered in muck. It was a bad night and it was evident they had been out in the elements,” he added.

They were arrested at the scene and the jeep was seized.

They were finger-printed, photographed and DNA samples were taken from them at the Garda station.

Meehan replied ‘no comment’ to every question during interview the following morning.

Det. Carroll told the hearing he arrested Hogan at the scene.  He found two electrical testers and a number of blades in his possession.

Hogan, he said, could offer no explanation why he and Meehan were in Twomileditch at that hour of the morning.

Judge Fahy observed the testers could be used to check if house or business alarms were working.

Hogan said he was wet and mucky because he had got out of the jeep to go to the toilet at the side of the road.

He changed his story while giving evidence in court, claiming the van belonged to his brother who was a roofer and he used the tools in his line of work.

When asked by his barrister, Garry McDonald, why he was in Galway that night, Hogan replied: “To be honest, it was a sexual matter and I can’t say anymore without embarrassing someone.”

Mr McDonald asked him was he having an affair.

“Yes, but I don’t want to mention the woman’s name. I feel ashamed I was having a relationship because the woman concerned is married,” Hogan replied.

Meehan had 90 previous convictions for mostly motoring offences.

Hogan had 102 previous convictions, also for mostly motoring offences and had been given a five-month suspended sentence and ten-year disqualification in 2017 for driving without insurance in Cork.

CITY TRIBUNE

Galway ‘masterplan’ needed to tackle housing and transport crises

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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.”

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CITY TRIBUNE

Official opening of Galway’s new pedestrian and cycle bridge

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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).

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CITY TRIBUNE

Minister branded ‘a disgrace’ for reversing land rezoning in Galway City

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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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