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Significant issue with heroin in Galway, says Judge
A Lithuanian heroin dealer smiled with relief when sentenced to five months in prison for selling the drug on the streets of Galway this summer.
His arrest last July was a direct result of an ongoing operation by the local Garda Divisional Drugs Unit into the drug-dealing activities of a Dublin-based Lithuanian criminal gang here in Galway.
Imposing sentence this week at the holiday sittings of Galway District Court, visiting Judge Marie Keane said that since coming to Galway this August she could not help but notice “a significant issue with drugs in the city, moving onto more serious drugs”.
Arturas Rimkevicius (25), 330 Tirellan Heights, Headford Road, was caught red-handed by Garda Paul McNulty and Garda Orla Flatley with ten bags of heroin ‘deals’ worth €250 as he left his rental address at 5.45pm on July 3 last to ply his trade on the streets of Galway.
A follow-up search of the house in Tirellan yielded a further 70 bags of heroin ‘deals’ worth €1,750 along with a quantity of cash, which Gardai believe to be the proceeds of drug dealing.
Inspector Mick Dwyer explained the ongoing Garda operation had been mounted to target the Lithuanian gang’s criminal activities in the Galway area.
Both Gardai had the house under observation and Rimkevicius was arrested and subsequently charged with having amphetamines, cannabis and heroin in his possession at the above address on July 3 last and with having the drugs for sale or supply on the same date.
He was further charged with obstructing Garda Paul McNulty by attempting to swallow ten bags of heroin, refusing to spit them out and resisting arrest on the same date.
A backlog of cases at the National Forensic Science Laboratory in Dublin delayed the certificate of analysis for the drugs seized at the time and the case could not be dealt with until the certificate issued this week.
Inspector Mick Dwyer said there were eight charges before the court.
He then withdrew four of the charges following a plea by Rimkevicius to the remaining four charges; two for possession of drugs and two drug dealing charges.
Defence solicitor, Brian Gilmartin said his client had been in custody since July 4 last and had only been in Galway a few months before his arrest.
“He is not the first person to come before this court in similar circumstances.
“It’s been accepted that these people are being trafficked and are victims of their own circumstances.
”In Lithuania they are promised a better life but when they arrive here, they are handed a phone and drugs and told to sell them,” he said.
Pleading for leniency, Mr Gilmartin said his client had been in custody for two months already and his intention had always been to plead guilty.
Judge Keane observed: “This court cannot take a lenient approach to drugs. Drugs are a scourge of the modern age.
“I’ve noticed since sitting in Galway this month, a significant issue with drugs, moving onto more serious drugs.”
The judge said that while she accepted Rimkevicius was a lesser player, it was significant he had ten heroin deals on him when caught and had 70 more in the house along with cash.
She sentenced Rimkevicius to three months for the drug dealing charges and two months for the possession charges, both sentences to run consecutively. She backdated the sentence to July 3, when the accused first went into custody.
Rimkevicius smiled and joked with the Lithuanian interpreter when she explained the sentence to him and he smiled broadly as he was led away by prison officers.
Some 60 tourism companies from Ireland attended ‘Flavours of Ireland’ 2022 in London last week – including Connemara Wild Escapes, DK Connemara Oysters and Killary Fjord Boat Tours.
‘Flavours’ is Tourism Ireland’s annual B2B tourism workshop, where tourism companies from Ireland meet and do business with top global inbound tour operators.
Now in its 20th year, ‘Flavours’ took place in the Guildhall, in the City of London, and was attended by around 100 global inbound tour operators who deliver business from all over the world, including the United States, Mainland Europe, Asia, Australasia and Africa.
‘Flavours’ provides an excellent opportunity for the participating tourism providers from Galway and Ireland to highlight and sell their tourism product and build valuable relationships with the key decision-makers in attendance.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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From the Galway City Tribune – The Office of the Planning Regulator (OPR) has asked Galway City Council to roll back material alterations to the new City Development Plan proposed by councillors.
In July, elected members voted through a raft of changes to zonings in the Draft City Development Plan 2023-29, which went out on public display.
But the Planning Regulator has now warned City Hall that many of the proposed changes do not comply with the OPR’s recommendations, and are contrary to national planning guidelines.
The OPR specifically highlighted problems with proposals to rezone as residential land deemed at risk of flooding.
Anne Marie O’Connor, Deputy Regulator, wrote to the Council’s Planning Department outlining the OPR’s fresh advice on the changes to the draft plan proposed and approved by councillors.
The draft plan will come before elected members again this month.
Councillors will be asked to row back on some of their previous material alterations, which ran contrary to advice of the OPR.
Ms O’Connor said the OPR welcomed many of the changes made by the City Council in its draft plan. She said, however, that the OPR “has a number of outstanding concerns relating to the response of the planning authority to its recommendations and to a number of proposed material alterations relating to the zoning of lands”.
These relate to changes that conflict with national and regional objectives for compact growth; with legislative requirements regarding climate action and core strategies; and with rezoning land at risk of flooding.
The OPR highlighted a dozen or more material alterations by councillors that are “not consistent” with the National Planning Framework for compact growth.
These include re-zoning of land from agricultural or recreational and amenity to residential.
The changes voted on by councillors, the OPR noted, were done against the advice of the Council’s Chief Executive Brendan McGrath.
The OPR said the changes proposed by councillors represented a “piecemeal approach” to zoning and were “inconsistent” with national policy.
These comments related to proposed rezoning of land at Rahoon; Dublin Road; Quarry Road, Menlo; Ballindooley; off Circular Road; Menlo village; Roscam and Barna Woods.
The OPR also raised “significant concerns” over five material alterations proposed for residential zonings of land at Western Distributor Road; Terryland; Menlo Village; Headford Road and Barna Woods which are located within flood zones.
The approach by councillors “may place people and property at unnecessary risk from future flood events”, the OPR warned.
Ms O’Connor told planners that if the draft plan ignores the OPR advice or is at odds with its recommendations, the Council Chief Executive must inform the OPR in writing the reasons for doing so.
Save Roscam Peninsula in a 33-page submission to the draft plan echoed many of the concerns outlined by the OPR.
The Council has pencilled in four dates in November and December to approve the plan.
It will meet on November 21, 24 and 28 and December 1 when material alterations will be voted on individually.
This article first appeared in the print edition of the Galway City Tribune, November 4. You can support our journalism by subscribing to the Galway City Tribune HERE. The print edition is in shops every Friday.
JOHN HARNEY from Mountpleasant first joined the Ballinasloe Horse and Agriculture Show Committee, all of 60-years ago, on April 24, 1962. Both John and the show are still going strong as they celebrate their 183rd event on this Sunday. Here, he looks back on his involvement with this iconic show through the years.
THE Ballinasloe Show back in the early 1960s was going well with both the Showgrounds and Duggan Park both used for running the competitions.
My first introduction to the show was stewarding the pony competitions in the Mountpleasant end of the Duggan Park with the rest of the GAA field being used for trade stands.
At that time, it was a very big show with horses, ponies, cattle and sheep, pigs and fowl – also there was a big garden and farm produce section as well as a home craft and baking section with flowers and plants supported by a very large women’s committee.
At that time, showjumping took place in the afternoon with the top riders in the country taking part. I was elected Chairman at the AGM in 1975, a position I held for ten years.
During that time, the Duggan Park Committee approached the Show Committee for a piece of the showgrounds behind the GAA Stand for dressing rooms.
This was brought up a number of times at our committee meetings, and at first, the view was that the Duggan Park Committee would buy the ground.
However, after much deliberation it was decided by the Show Committee to ‘give the ground’ for the sum of £1 with the proviso that the dressingrooms could be used on show days by the local ICA to do catering for the event.
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.
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