News
Twist in the tale for soup kitchen operator
The operator of a former soup kitchen in the city was convicted in Galway District Court on Monday on four counts of holding collections without the proper permit.
In imposing the Probation Act on the five collectors who were also summoned, Judge Mary Fahy criticised the operator for sending vulnerable people out on the streets armed with bogus documents.
“It is very suspect that they were out collecting for a charity, when they themselves are requiring help,” she said.
Oliver Williams (47), with an address at Ballyboggan, Athenry, denied holding an unauthorised collection at both William Street and Corbettcourt on September 29 last year, at Liosban, Tuam Road, on September 17, and at Eyre Square on November 26 last year.
Four separate Gardaí gave evidence of stopping five volunteers who were collecting for Twist Soup Kitchen on the various dates. They were all wearing luminous bibs, had laminated id cards around their necks and, when asked for permits they produced a document which was signed by Williams and purported to be authority to collect. Gardaí seized over €600 cash.
The court heard, however, that Twist was not a registered charity, and was not permitted to collect money in public. Williams claimed that he thought he was exempt from needing a permit as the volunteers were selling pens, rather than asking for money.
The Garda evidence contradicted this, however – they said that the volunteers were shaking their buckets seeking donations – and Williams acknowledged during the hearing that he had been mistaken in this respect, and that the exemption only applied to registered charities.
Sgt Brendan Moore told the court that he was of the belief that the five volunteers knew their actions were not ‘kosher’ and that they were in possession of “bogus collection authorisation issued by Mr Williams.”
“There was a ‘cat and mouse’ scenario, they had been fleeing from us – this had been going on for a month at that stage (September 27),” he said.
On a subsequent occasion, Garda Micheal Murphy told the court that he was on mobile patrol in a marked car on the afternoon of January 5 2013 when he caught sight of another volunteer in a high-vis jacket who was collecting for the soup kitchen. When the collector saw the Garda car, however, he ran back towards Twist Café on Queen Street. The Garda said that when he drove the car around the one-way street to the location of the café, the man was gone.
He returned to Galway Garda Station, changed into plain clothes, and returned to the Queen Street/Forthill junction where he observed the same man collecting for Twist.
Garda Murphy said that passing motorists were putting money in a bucket and receiving nothing in return. Again, the volunteer had no permit to collect.
Garda Paul Gahan told the court that he approached Olivier Williams, in relation to these unauthorised collections, on September 17 last year, and he was subsequently summoned for holding unauthorised collections. Nine days later, the same Garda saw a Twist volunteer collecting money in Liosban.
Sgt Moore met with Williams on October 10 outside Twist, and the court heard that Williams said that Gardaí were picking on him.
“I said that he had to comply like every other charity,” Sgt Moore said.
“He said that he had applied for status, but that it hadn’t been advanced. I looked into it and it was because he couldn’t produce a tax clearance certificate.”
Sgt Moore said that Williams asked for a meeting with the Superintendent, Marie Skehill, but before Sgt Moore had even returned to Galway Garda Station that day, Williams had already been in contact with the Superintendent.
At the subsequent meeting, at which Sgt Moore took notes, Williams was advised that he could not avail of an exemption as Twist was not a registered charity.
“He was advised to desist from selling or collecting, or the Twist gear was liable to be seized – there were further detections after that,” Sgt Moore told the court.
He said that following this meeting, Twist volunteers were being sent out with the same bogus permits, but this time Sgt Moore’s name had been handwritten onto them.
“Collectors were handing these out when asked for authorisation,” he said.
When questioned about them, he said that volunteers pointed to his own name – not realising that he was the same person – on the document and said: “This man said it was okay.”
In court on Monday, Valerie Corcoran, solicitor for Williams, said that she had not been representing the defendant at the time but had since managed to convince her client that he was not exempt from needing a permit.
“He had to be told three times that he was wrong – and he was shocked (when he realised),” she said. “He genuinely thought he was doing things correctly.”
However, Judge Fahy was not convinced, and she said that the obtaining of a permit was the most basic requirement of any collections – something that even school children were aware of.
“The dates (for collections) are very closely monitored, and people have to apply months in advance for them. I cannot help but notice, and it is sad to say that several of these (collectors) are vulnerable people staying in hostels.
“It is very suspect what is going on, it is a cynical exercise to try to inform the court that they were doing it for charity, it is all very murky, and I don’t like the sound of it at all.”
The Probation Act was imposed in the case of the five collectors, while Williams was convicted on four counts of holding unauthorised collections, the maximum fine for which is €63.
The judge said that his actions were so disturbing that she had to mark a conviction on each of the four summonses before her, and the maximum fine, which amounted to €252, was imposed.
The State applied for the forfeiture of all items seized from collectors, including the money, which Judge Fahy suggested be given to Cope, which cares for the homeless in the city.
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
