Uncategorized
Vital health files lost in arson blaze, court told
A city teenager has been sentenced to five years in prison with the final 18 months suspended for setting fire to the addiction treatment building in Merlin Park two years ago.
The building was set alight by a gang of burglars, who feared that blood left by one of them on a radio in one of the offices at the scene might incriminate him and link him to the burglary.
Alan Winters (19), from 90 Sruthan an Mhuirlinne, Ballybane, was the only one of the gang to be charged with arson. It was not his blood, but he did admit gathering papers to start the fire, even though he didn’t strike the match.
Winters refused to name any of the others involved in the break-in and arson.
Two other males were charged with burglary and one received a two-year sentence with one year suspended for that offence at an earlier court sitting.
Winters pleaded guilty before Galway Circuit Criminal Court to setting fire to the Community Alcohol Counselling and Treatment Centre on September 19, 2013, moments before his trial was due to begin last January.
He had pleaded guilty to entering the premises as a trespasser to commit theft there and to causing criminal damage to the property belonging to the HSE, but had denied the arson charge.
Sentencing in the matter was adjourned to last Wednesday for the preparation of a probation report on the accused.
Sergeant Emma Kerins told the sentence hearing she and two colleagues were on patrol on the night in question when at around 2am they saw large flames coming from Merlin Park Woods.
They found the building engulfed in flames. The fire brigade was called but the premises was gutted, she said.
A number of people, including Winters, were later arrested and interviewed on suspicion of burglary and criminal damage at the premises earlier that night.
Winters admitted breaking a window to get into the Centre to steal small office items and he admitted seeing the building on fire.
Sgt. Kerins said that while the damage to the building cost €320,000, the real damage was the massive knock-on effect the arson has had since on people with addictions from Galway and Connacht, who had used the service.
“Up to 600 patients used that Centre every year and now everything is gone,” Sgt. Kerins said.
Referring to addiction counsellor, Joe Treacy, who was present in court for the sentence hearing, Sgt. Kerins said: “He used to treat up to 600 patients a year there. All of his files, which were stored on computers, are all gone.
“A service that was invaluable to the community is lost forever because of this,” Sgt. Kerins said.
Defence barrister, Brendan Browne said his client was sorry. He had started drinking at 15 and was drinking half a bottle of vodka and taking prescription drugs while associating with the wrong people at the time of this offence. He had little recollection of what he did that night.
“It’s accepted he didn’t start the fire but he was involved in it. He has drink and drug issues himself,” Mr Browne said of his client.
Sgt. Kerins expressed concern that the young man’s mother had “an open door policy” in her home and that the undesirables involved in this offence were allowed hang around her home and come and go as they pleased.
“I have a real concern that his family would let these people stay in their home. The door is open to these people to stay and they use it quite frequently. The Juvenile Liaison Officer has spoken to his mother about this.
“I don’t know if she’s doing it out of fear but I know there is an open door policy in their house and that is quite worrying,” Sgt Kerins revealed to the court.
Mr Treacy told the court the loss of the Centre was devastating. “We lost everything. It’s lost to the community that most needed it.
“It is his (Winters) own community that he has damaged,” Mr Treacy said.
He said he could no longer deliver the unique services the building had offered as it was in a discreet setting and in a hospital setting.
“The irony here is the accused has denied himself services that might have been of benefit to him,” Judge Rory McCabe observed.
Sgt Kerins confirmed to the court that while Winters had no previous convictions at the time of this offence, he now had six and was currently serving sentences totalling five months, (for assault, theft, robbery, burglary, criminal damage and being a passenger in a stolen van) which had been imposed last October in the District Court.
Passing sentence, Judge McCabe said it was an obscenity that the accused and others like him, saw fit to burn down a premises that was there to help people with addiction and health issues.
“Staggering collateral damage has resulted from this and it’s hard not to be shocked by the effect his misconduct has had on the services,” Judge McCabe said.
Noting from the probation report that the accused remained at high risk of reoffending because he refused to disassociate himself from the others and would associate with them again if released, Judge McCabe said a custodial sentence was unavoidable.
He sentenced Winters to five years for the arson charge and imposed a concurrent, two-year sentence on him for the burglary charge, while taking the remaining criminal damage charge into account.
The judge said he was suspending the final 18 months of the five-year sentence for three years, and placing Winters under the supervision of the probation service for 12 months on his release from custody, hoping he would tackle his addiction issues with the help of the probation service then.
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.
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.
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.
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
