CITY TRIBUNE
Man threatened to burn his elderly parents in bed
A man who threatened to burn his elderly parents as they slept in their beds, has been sentenced to eight months in prison.
The 29-year-old man’s mother told Galway District Court that she never felt like her home was her own, as she had to spend more time out of it than in it, due to her son’s threatening and violent behaviour.
The man – who may not be identified in order to protect the identity of his parents – appeared in custody before the court, charged with assaulting his mother at her home in Renmore on November 20 last.
He pleaded guilty to obstructing Garda Rachel Killeen at the house on December 7 last and to breaching a Safety Order on several dates late last year, which the court had granted to his parents last July, and which stipulated he stay away from his parents and their home.
Sergeant Georgina Lohan withdrew a charge involving an assault on the man’s father, following the plea to the other charges.
The court heard Gardai were called to the house on November 21 last.
The man’s parents told them their son had gone into his father’s bedroom the day before where he demanded money.
His father gave him €20, but he wasn’t satisfied with that and he pushed his father around the room.
He then went into his mother’s bedroom. She was eating breakfast in her room because she was too afraid of her son to stay in the kitchen.
Her son demanded money from her and she gave him €20. He wasn’t satisfied with that and he demanded more money, pushing her against a sink in her room. He then took a cup of hot tea from her and threw it at her.
Both parents attempted to flee their home in their night clothes and their son threatened them that if they didn’t leave the house he would throw hot water at them.
They returned to their home that evening. Their son pushed his mother around the next day. Both she and her husband became afraid they would be assaulted again and they called the Gardai.
The accused was brought before court the next day where he was granted bail on condition he stay from his parent’s home.
He breached that condition on December 7 last and his parents called the Gardai after he fell asleep in his room.
He became very aggressive when awoken by Gardai and threatened to burn his parents as they slept when he got the chance. He also threatened to stab Gardai in the neck with a scissors when they tried to arrest him.
Gardai called for back-up and the Regional Support Unit arrived at the house where they assisted in arresting the man. He had been held in custody since that date.
Defence solicitor, Brian Gilmartin, said his client had serious addictions to alcohol and drugs, but the time he had spent in prison had made him realise he needed help.
He said his client had been given bail last November to appear before the court on December 7, but he had breached that bail by not turning up in court that day and by going back to his parent’s home.
Mr Gilmartin said his client had instructed him that once he had served any custodial sentence the court would impose, he wanted to take up a residential treatment course to deal with his addictions.
Sgt Lohan said the man had 11 previous convictions, including nine for Public Order offences, one for possession of drugs and one for failing to turn up in court.
Judge Mary Fahy asked to speak to the man’s mother to ascertain her attitude towards her son and how the assault had affected her.
“It has affected me for life. I’m in shock. I can’t believe it,” the woman said.
She said she did not want her son to come back to her home once he was released from custody. She then thanked the Gardai for their support “down through the years” and especially during the most recent, stressful period.
“I never thought I had a home. I was more out of it, than in it,” she added.
The woman agreed with Judge Fahy that at some point in the future she and his father would want to rebuild some sort of relationship with their son, but it would have to be done away from their home.
Judge Fahy said things had been bad, but matters had got a lot worse when the son had started drinking alcohol and taking drugs as he got older. Those addictions had exacerbated matters, she said, and had come to a head when the parents were being assaulted in their own home.
She said it was clear the man needed urgent treatment. She said he was very, very seriously addicted to drugs and alcohol and he would require residential treatment with follow-on aftercare.
The offences occurred while the accused was on bail and that made his offending behaviour even more serious, the judge observed.
She sentenced the man to four months in prison for assaulting his mother and imposed a consecutive four-month sentence for obstructing Garda Killeen when she went to arrest him on December 7.
A consecutive four-month sentence was imposed on him for breaching the Safety Order on December 7, but it was suspended for two years on condition that he be of good behaviour and not reoffend during the next two years; link in with the probation service within 24 hours of his release from prison; attend any residential rehabilitation centre identified for him; and that he stay away from his parent’s home during the period of the suspension.
Concurrent, but suspended one-month sentences were imposed for the remaining breaches of the Safety Order. The sentences were backdated to December 7, when the man first went into custody.
“He now knows he cannot go back home and he will need another residential address. I do hope he is serious about getting treatment for his addictions and that his parents give him the support he needs. That is up to them and I know it’s going to be difficult for them, given what has happened,” Judge Fahy added.
Leave to appeal the sentences was granted on the man’s own surety of €600 and one independent surety of €800 with half of each amount to be lodged in cash in court.
Judge Fahy stipulated the independent surety would have to be approved by the court.
She said the man would also have to provide a residential address, stay away from his parent’s home and that he liaise with the Resettlement Team and addiction services while in prison, pending the outcome of any such appeal.
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.”
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).
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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