Connacht Tribune
Match attack left footballer with permanent deafness
A GAA player has been left with permanent hearing loss following an assault by a PE teacher in an off-the-ball incident during a match.
Sean Killeen, of Mynish, Carna, pleaded guilty to assault causing harm on Darragh Varley in a match at Naomh Padraig GAA Club, Kilbeg, Clonbur, on August 21, 2021.
Garda Rebekah Nalty said it was during ‘a heated football match’ between Carna/Cashel and Clonbur, that Killeen struck Mr Varley into his ear while the players were awaiting a kickout ten minutes before the final whistle.
In a moving victim impact statement tendered to the court, Mr Varley said he had lost the hearing in his left ear after the ‘unprovoked strike’.
He had to revisit hospital on the night of his Leaving Certificate results as the pain in his ear was so severe. He also made the tough call to defer his college place as result of what happened.
He now found it very difficult to tolerate loud noises as a result of the ‘irreparable damage’.
“When exposed to loud noise I get an intense ringing in my left ear which I did not get before this altercation. My greatest concern continues to be what will happen if I damage my other ear – would this leave me almost completely deaf.”
He said GAA matches had evolved into ‘very physical and very tough’ contests and all players played at a very intense level.
“Injuries may happen,” he reflected. “All my years playing the game, the number one message has always been to ‘give respect, get respect’. Every player should have the basic mutual respect of one another.
“Up to this day on no occasion has any apology ever been made to me which would have helped me deal with the consequences of this strike.”
Defence solicitor Brendan O’Connor told Clifden District Court the defendant was a 35-year-old PE teacher in a local school who was captain of the team that day.
The married father of two small children had no history of being in trouble before the incident during the ‘local derby’.
“In the first instance, Mr Killeen wishes me to apologise for the incident. It was entirely out of character. It was one of several incidents that occurred over the course of the match, it’s something which happened in the heat of the match,” Mr O’Connor stated.
He handed in five character references, two from school principals, which showed his client went ‘above and beyond’ his duties to look after local children and provided a valuable service to the community.
Judge John King pointed out that an apology was only offered 18 months after the incident on the day of sentencing.
“He chose to enter a plan on January 26 but at all times he knew he was guilty,” he stated.
Mr O’Connor said the defendant had held his hands up and was willing to offer compensation of €3,000 as a token of his remorse.
“He accepts he was wrong,” he stressed.
Judge King asked Mr Varley if he was willing to take the money.
“I don’t know,” he replied. When Judge King said it would otherwise go to charity, the GAA player said he would take it.
Mr O’Connor said it was also open to the victim to take a claim for compensation under the GAA’s player injury insurance policy. This had to be lodged by August, within two years of the incident.
Judge King said the €3,000 should not form part of any civil court claim.
He said that, as the captain of the football team, Killeen should have led by example.
“As a teacher, he’s supposed to be giving a good example. An unprovoked attack on another player on a field of play is highly unacceptable,” he remarked.
He convicted and fined him €1,000 and accepted €3,000 as compensation.
Fixing recognizance in the event on an appeal at the request of Mr O’Connor, Judge King reminded the defence that penalties could be increased as well as decreased by the Circuit Court.
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.
Galway 3-18
Cork 1-10
NEW setting; new opposition; new challenge. It made no difference to the Galway minor hurlers as they chalked up a remarkable sixth consecutive double digits championship victory at Semple Stadium on Saturday.
The final scoreline in Thurles may have been a little harsh on Cork, but there was no doubting Galway’s overall superiority in setting up only a second-ever All-Ireland showdown against Clare at the same venue on Sunday week.
Having claimed an historic Leinster title the previous weekend, Galway took a while to get going against the Rebels and also endured their first period in a match in which they were heavily outscored, but still the boys in maroon roll on.
Beating a decent Cork outfit by 14 points sums up how formidable Galway are. No team has managed to lay a glove on them so far, and though Clare might ask them questions other challengers haven’t, they are going to have to find significant improvement on their semi-final win over 14-man Kilkenny to pull off a final upset.
Galway just aren’t winning their matches; they are overpowering the teams which have stood in their way. Their level of consistency is admirable for young players starting off on the inter-county journey, while the team’s temperament appears to be bombproof, no matter what is thrown at them.
Having romped through Leinster, Galway should have been a bit rattled by being only level (0-4 each) after 20 minutes and being a little fortunate not to have been behind; or when Cork stormed out of the blocks at the start of the second half by hitting 1-4 to just a solitary point in reply, but there was never any trace of panic in their ranks.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
GARDAÍ and the IFA have issued a joint appeal to all road users to take extra care as the silage season gets under way across the country.
Silage harvesting started in many parts of Galway last week – and over the coming month, the sight of tractors and trailers on rural roads will be getting far more frequent.
Inspector Conor Madden, who is in charge of Galway Roads Policing, told the Farming Tribune that a bit of extra care and common-sense from all road users would go a long way towards preventing serious collisions on roads this summer.
“One thing I would ask farmers and contractors to consider is to try and get more experienced drivers working for them.
“Tractors have got faster and bigger – and they are also towing heavy loads of silage – so care and experience are a great help in terms of accident prevention,” Inspector Madden told the Farming Tribune.
He said that tractor drivers should always be aware of traffic building up behind them and to pull in and let these vehicles pass, where it was safe to do so.
“By the same token, other road users should always exercise extra care; drive that bit slower; and ‘pull in’ that bit more, when meeting tractors and heavy machinery.
“We all want to see everyone enjoying a safe summer on our roads – that extra bit of care, and consideration for other roads users can make a huge difference,” said Conor Madden.
He also advised motorists and tractor drivers to be acutely aware of pedestrians and cyclists on the roads during the summer season when more people would be out walking and cycling on the roads.
The IFA has also joined in on the road safety appeal with Galway IFA Farm Family and Social Affairs Chair Teresa Roche asking all road users to exercise that extra bit of care and caution.
“We are renewing our annual appeal for motorists to be on the look out for tractors, trailers and other agricultural machinery exiting from fields and farmyards,” she said.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
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
