News
Man poured boiling water over former partner and her new lover
A father of three who poured a kettle of boiling water over his former partner and her new lover as they lay sleeping, walked free from court on Wednesday having already spent over a year in custody while awaiting sentence.
Gary Doyle (37), with an address at 174 Castle Park, Ballybane, pleaded guilty before Galway Circuit Criminal Court to assaulting Sandra Martin (43), causing her harm at 20 Cooke’s Terrace, Bohermore on September 22 last year.
He also pleaded guilty to assaulting his former neighbour, Dermot Talty (38), causing him harm, on the same date.
Sergeant Paul Duane told the sentence hearing that Doyle broke into the house he had formerly shared with Ms Martin since 1999, in the early hours of the morning, filled the kettle in the kitchen, waited for it to boil and then walked to the downstairs front bedroom where the couple were sleeping and poured the boiling water over them.
Doyle then fled the scene but was arrested a short time later in Bohermore cemetery. The couple were brought to hospital where they were treated for their injuries.
Sgt. Duane said 28% of Mr Talty’s upper body suffered burns and he had been left with permanent scarring to some parts of his body. He required dressings on the burns for four months and was in a lot of pain but had since made a good recovery.
Ms Martin, he said, sustained severe burns to the back of her arms and back. She too had made a good recovery but had been left with pigmentation marks to her skin in the affected areas.
Prosecuting barrister, Conor Fahy, said Doyle and Ms Martin had three children together but the relationship had broken down and she had taken out a court Protection Order against him the month before this attack.
Sgt. Duane said the accused came from Northern Ireland originally and had 21 previous convictions. Six days before this attack, Doyle had thrown a cup of hot coffee in Ms Martin’s face in a coffee shop.
Defence barrister, Conal McCarthy said his client had been drinking around this time following the break-up of his relationship with Ms Martin. He was very upset that he had to leave his home at 20 Cooke’s Terrace, which he had refurbished himself.
He said Doyle was now very remorseful for what he did and he just wanted to get on with his life.
Judge Rory McCabe sentenced Doyle to three years in prison for each assault, the sentences to run concurrently. He then suspended the final 18 months of each sentence on condition Doyle remain under the supervision of the probation service for twelve months.
A short time later, Judge McCabe was informed by the prison service that Doyle had by now served all of the sentence imposed on him by the court and he was to be released from custody with immediate effect.
For more on this story, see the Galway City Tribune.
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
