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Connacht Tribune

Woman reveals lifelong impact of chimney sweep’s child sex abuse

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The terror instilled in a ten-year-old child by a grown man almost thirty years ago – that he could violently rape and kill her any time he liked – can still be triggered by a smell, a sound or a childhood image, instantly turning a strong, successful woman into a terrified little girl again.

Chimney sweep and odd-job man Dermot O’Hara was a familiar figure on the streets of Ballinasloe for decades. No-one knew he had a previous conviction for a sexual assault in 1982. He was untouchable, until one day four years ago a young woman walked into Ballinasloe Garda Station and was believed when she gave her account of what he had done to her as a child.

“Four years ago, I went to the Garda station expecting not to be believed but I was met with a warm and sincere response,” the now 37-year-old woman told O’Hara’s sentence hearing at Galway Circuit Criminal Court last week, urging all victims of abuse to come forward and make their complaints to Gardaí.

“Since speaking up about the abuse, however, I have been deeply disappointed by the response from Tusla. I truly believed that he was a danger in the community and was extremely let down by their lack of action. However, I am eternally grateful to the dedication and care that I have received from the Garda investigating team. Four years ago, I went to the Garda station expecting not to be believed and I was met with a warm and sincere response,” the woman said, reading her own victim impact statement into the court record.

O’Hara, who is now 70, with an address at Poolboy, Ballinasloe, had initially denied 36 charges of sexually assaulting the girl when she was aged between nine and thirteen, on various dates between 1995 and 1998.

He was due to stand trial last May but pleaded guilty to 17 of the charges moments before a jury was empanelled.

Detective Aiden Heneghan gave evidence last week the woman made her complaint on January 2, 2019 to Sergeant Orla Keenan that O’Hara had sexually assaulted her over a four-year period in the 1990’s.

She said that from the age of nine she used to babysit for O’Hara and his wife who worked outside of the home at their then-address in Brackernagh, Ballinasloe.

O’Hara would always come back to the house after his wife had gone to work.

He often brought the girl off in his car to buy her sweets, bring her to Supermac’s or to the playground. He made her feel like it was their secret.

Back at the house, O’Hara made the child watch hardcore pornographic videos, where victims were violently raped, tortured and sometimes killed.

“He would take pleasure in extreme sexual violence, and she feared he had a hold on her by getting her to watch these videos,” Det. Heneghan said.

The grooming and coercion escalated one night when the girl was sleeping over in the house. O’Hara came into the bedroom, got on top of her and groped her all over.

She began to struggle to get away from him and he started laughing, saying to her: “Did you think I was going to rape you?”

Det. Heneghan said that from 1995 to 1998 a pattern emerged whereby O’Hara would grab the girl and grope her breasts and buttocks outside her clothes at every opportunity.

O’Hara denied all of the allegations when he was arrested and questioned in September 2019. He continues to deny he made her watch explicit pornographic videos, the court was told.

The detective confirmed O’Hara had nine previous convictions, including one for indecent assault which was recorded at Eyrecourt District Court in January 1982, for which he served six months in prison.

There were others for having implements used in the commission of burglaries, assaulting a Garda, thefts, drink driving and careless driving.

In her victim impact statement, the woman said her life was ‘completely altered by the actions of this man’.

“The grooming process I was subjected to was centred on isolating me and then instilling a fear of violent sexual attacks. Because of this grooming and the sexual assaults, I have lived with an intense fear of particular situations. Logically I know that these fears are irrational, but they are so engrained I cannot shake them off as they happen.

“I find it very difficult to be alone in a house, especially at night. To this day, I check under beds, in wardrobes and behind curtains to ensure there is no perpetrator waiting for me before I can sleep. I continue to have an intense fear of the dark. I cannot walk in a wooded area alone, during night or day. I fear that I will be raped in a public toilet, because of a rape scene that he forced me to watch as a young child.

“As a young adult I had several male bosses. I was convinced that each boss and other men in positions of power were inevitably going to sexually assault me. I feared that random men I walked past on the street were going to follow me and attack me.

“I believed my body was for the pleasure of older men and I had no say in this. I was often surprised when an encounter with an older man in a position of power did not end with a sexual assault.

“In my twenties, I was in a very violent relationship. In this relationship, the pattern I had learned about keeping secrets meant that I stayed for four years without one person being aware of the intense violence that I was experiencing. This person often threatened to rape me, and I regarded this as an acceptable part of what I deserved.

“I am a successful, strong adult who can turn into a scared little girl with a smell, sound or image that reminds me of what he did.

“I am in my late thirties and it is only now, with a lot of therapy and a very supportive group of family and friends that I can maintain healthy relationships without freezing in fear or becoming submissive after being triggered.

“It is difficult to describe how fearful I am of being in his presence today. He has a twisted mind, and he takes great pleasure in being feared by the vulnerable. He got such pleasure out of creating fear.

“I will carry the weight of what he has done with me for the rest of my life. I will need to continue in therapy and other supports into the future. However, regardless of the outcome of this case, I am confident that I have been believed and I no longer have to cover up someone else’s wrongdoings.

“The court cannot underestimate the message of hope this case can give for survivors of abuse. I intend to live the rest of my life as a very proud survivor,” she concluded.

Bernard Madden SC, defending, tendered an apology on behalf of O’Hara. He said his client had pleaded guilty 18 months after he was initially charged, sparing the woman from having to give evidence at a trial.

Referring to the findings of a probation report, counsel said that while O’Hara posed a medium risk of reoffending, his only previous conviction for a similar offence was committed 40 years ago.

Judge Brian O’Callaghan quickly pointed out the 1982 indecent assault conviction was recorded just twelve years before these offences took place.

He noted the apology, the plea, and O’Hara’s age as the main mitigating factors before proceeding to impose two, concurrent headline sentences of three years for each of the first two sexual assaults when the girl was aged nine. He reduced those three-year sentences to two years each after taking mitigation into account.

The judge said that given the potential for rehabilitation, he would suspend the final six months of each two-year sentence, giving a net total of 18 months to be served in prison.

The six months was suspended on condition O’Hara enter into a bond to keep the peace and be of good behaviour for two years on his release from prison, remain free from alcohol, and engage with the probation service for 18 months post release from prison.

The remaining 15 charges before the court were taken into account, while the State entered a nolle prosequi for the 19 outstanding charges.

Connacht Tribune

West has lower cancer survival rates than rest

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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.

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Connacht Tribune

Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents

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Galway's Aaron Niland is chased by Cillian O'Callaghan of Cork during Saturday's All-Ireland Minor Hurling semi-final at Semple Stadium. Photo: Stephen Marken/Sportsfile.

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.

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Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety

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Galway IFA Farm Family and Social Affairs Chair Teresa Roche

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.

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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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