News
Woman in €43k fraud case is spared jail
A 55-year-old woman is to carry out 240 hours of community service in lieu of a two-year prison sentence for stealing thousands of euro from the Department of Social Welfare and from her former employer.
Maureen Sullivan, from Bothar na Scrathóg, Carraroe, was warned last November by Judge Rory McCabe at Galway Circuit Criminal Court that she faced a possible three-year sentence and an additional 18-month sentence if she did not make efforts to repay €21,000 to the Department of Social Protection and a further €22,000 to her former employer at Joyce’s supermarket in Knocknacarra.
Sullivan pleaded guilty before the court last July to ten sample charges relating to two separate offences of theft and fraud.
She pleaded guilty to five sample charges involving the theft of varying amounts of cash from Joyce’s supermarket, Knocknacarra, Galway,on dates between September, 2012 and November, 2013. The facts were admitted in seven other related charges.
A total of €21,992 was stolen from the store.
She pleaded guilty also to five sample charges of receiving payments by deception from the Department of Social Welfare and Family Protection, on dates between September 2009 and February 2012, at Carraroe Post Office.
The facts were admitted in ten other sample charges.
The total which was fraudulently claimed by her over a two-and-a-half year period came to €21,165.
Sergeant Joe Folan told the sentence hearing last November that Sullivan was in receipt of Unemployment Benefit, from July, 2006 until February 2012, amounting to €57,261. She received those payments at Casla Post Office.
Then, on top of that, between October 2009 and February 2012, she used the name Maureen McDonagh to claim Job Seeker’s Allowance to the amount of €21,165 at Carraroe Post Office.
She admitted using the name McDonagh over the two-and-a-half-year period to make the fraudulent claims.
Prosecuting barrister, Conor Fahy confirmed at the time that no money had been repaid.
Defence barrister, Geri Silke told the court in November that Sullivan was adamant she would repay the money.
Judge McCabe told Sullivan at the time that she was stealing from taxpayers; people who pay their taxes so that other people can get social welfare.
Her employers in Joyce’s had trusted her with the money and she had betrayed that trust, he said.
He warned Sullivan a three-year sentence was the appropriate penalty for the social welfare fraud and 18 months for the theft from Joyce’s.
However, he agreed to adjourn sentence to last February but he warned Sullivan this was a very serious matter and she was at grave risk of going to jail if the money was not repaid.
Ms Silke informed the court in February that her client had not repaid the money and her family were not willing to help her out.
She said her client was in receipt of €140 a week and the only way compensation could be paid was if €20 to €30 was taken from her social welfare every week.
Judge McCabe said there was no possibility of the money ever being repaid and he adjourned finalisation of sentence until last Thursday, directing Sullivan be assessed in the meantime for her suitability to carry out community service in lieu of a prison sentence.
A probation report handed into court on Thursday, confirmed Sullivan was deemed a suitable candidate to carry out community service.
Judge McCabe then imposed the maximum of 240 hours of community service on Sullivan in lieu of a 12-month sentence for the theft of money from the Department of Social Welfare and a concurrent two-year sentence for the theft of money from Joyce’s supermarket.
Ms Silke confirmed to the court that the Department of Social Welfare was now deducting €30 a week from her client’s payment in a bid to claw back some of the money stolen.
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
