News
Jail for teen muggers who robbed German student in Galway
Two teenage muggers who did little to enhance Ireland’s reputation as a safe tourist destination by robbing a German woman, have each been sentenced to three years in prison with the final two years suspended.
Michael Mongan (19), of 5 Cois na Coille, Ballybane, and co-accused Owen Mongan (19), of 167 Ballinfoyle Park, Headford Road, both pleaded guilty at Galway Circuit Criminal Court in April to robbing the 26-year-old German woman of her handbag, mobile phone and €40 cash on October 26 last year at Headford Road, Galway.
Sentence was adjourned for probation reports.
Garda Pat Foley told the sentence hearing last week that the victim, an Erasmus student, was walking home with two German friends when they were accosted by a gang of youths near Ballinfoyle Church.
A girl, who was with the gang, asked to use the victim’s phone. She refused and kept walking and the girl then grabbed the victim by the hair and pulled her to the ground, assaulted her and grabbed her handbag and phone.
When the victim’s two friends tried to help her, both accused grabbed them and held them while the robbery of their friend took place.
The gang of youths then ran off with the victim’s handbag and phone.
Garda Foley said he was in the area and was quickly on the scene.
Both of the Mongans were arrested a short time later and the €40 was found on Owen Mongan.
The woman’s handbag was later recovered at the back of the church but her expensive prescription glasses which were thrown out on the road by the gang were smashed by passing cars. Her house and car keys were not located either.
The victim, who has since returned to Germany, prepared a victim impact statement for the court which Garda Foley read aloud.
It stated this was the worst thing to have every happened to her. She had felt deeply helpless when attacked by the group and her friends continued to feel guilty that they could not help her that night.
One friend, in particular, still remained deeply traumatised, she said.
“I had to replace the locks in my house because I was afraid of them as they lived near me and I never felt secure again while living in Ireland,” the woman stated.
Clumps of her hair were pulled out by her unidentified female assailant and her head and face were very bruised afterwards, she added.
The court heard Owen Mongan had no previous convictions prior to this incident but since this robbery had again come to the attention of the Gardaí last June.
Michael Mongan has four previous convictions for road traffic offences and had been charged with assault and a public order offence in March, both of which are still before the District Court. His bail for those had been revoked in March, the court was told.
Defence barristers, Aisling Wall and Geri Silke, said both of their clients had each brought €500 to court to give to the victim.
Reading probation reports handed into court, Judge Rory McCabe noted Michael Mongan had told his probation officer he only pleaded guilty because his solicitor had advised him to do so.
He had also told the officer he didn’t want to get a job because he could get Job Seekers Allowance instead.
Ms Wall said he was immature and unable to see the consequences of his actions.
Ms Silke said Owen Mongan was very sorry for what he had done and had drank an enormous amount of vodka on the night.
She said he didn’t have much means but had managed to save €500 with the help of his family.
“He had plenty means to fill himself with vodka that night,” Judge McCabe observed.
He said this was disgusting behaviour.
“Both of them have to share the blame for this cowardly attack on visitors to this country.
It did little to enhance the reputation of Ireland abroad,” the judge added.
The offence of robbery carries a maximum of life imprisonment and this offence merited five years, Judge McCabe said.
Given the guilty pleas, the offer of compensation and the young age of both accused, the judge said the appropriate sentence was three years with the final two years suspended for two years.
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
