The Padraig Nally-Frog Ward scenario.
I donāt believe it
A load of corrupt guards supporting a corrupt guard so
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Meanwhile in Longford where nothing ever happensā¦.
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Something very suspicious about the death of this manā¦.
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I presume weāll have riots from the āpatriotā brigade about this?
Perhaps not.
A man who sexually abused five of his children, who were locked in a room for days at a time without food, has been jailed for 20 years.
Noel Farrell (70) pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to a number of sample counts of sexual abuse against his four daughters and one son at various addresses in Co Sligo over two decades.
Sentencing him on Friday, Judge Tony Hunt said this was a case he suspected would stand out in his memory āfor all the wrong reasonsā including the extreme cruelty and gravity of the offending.
āIt is truly shocking,ā he said. āOne runs out of words in trying to describe the depths plumbed in this particular case. I say this as a way of trying to illustrate how extreme and awful the nature of the facts in this case are.ā
He said the complainants were dealt a terrible hand in life and were exposed to a āgrotesque breach of parental trustā.
He said they had shown an extraordinary degree of fortitude and courage in how they faced up to their lives.
Noting the lack of mitigating factors in the case, save for the guilty plea, Mr Justice Hunt set a headline sentence of 30 years, which he reduced to 20 years. He said there was no need to impose a post-release supervision order, because if Farrell ādoes emerge from a custodial sentenceā, he will be extremely elderly.
Farrell, of Rathedmond Estate, Sligo, made no visible reaction as the sentence was handed down, while the complainants embraced each other.
The court heard that four of the five children wished to waive their right to anonymity so Farrell could be identified in reporting and that the fifth did not wish to be named herself but wished for Farrell to be named.
In victim impact statements, the five siblings spoke of the effects of the abuse on their mental health, relationships and lives.
Some of the victims also spoke about developing addiction issues and the impact of being placed into care.
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GAA club treasurer must pay ā¬2,000 compensation for assault on coach
Victim says his club became a place of ādread and stressā after it backed his attacker
TULLAMORE GAA CLUB COACH PETER MARTIN (LEFT) AT THE DISTRICT COURT YESTERDAY WHERE BRIAN COLLINS WAS GIVEN A SUSPENDED NINE-MONTH SENTENCE. PHOTOGRAPHS: PAUL MOLLOY
MARK TIGHEA coach has said his GAA club became a place of ādread and stressā after it failed to support him but instead backed the club treasurer who was convicted of assaulting him at a menās senior football match.
Brian Collins (73), who was the treasurer of Tullamore GAA until recent months, was yesterday given a suspended nine-month sentence for assault causing harm to Peter Martin. The incident occurred on the sidelines of a Tullamore senior menās football match on October 30th, 2024.
The victim was diagnosed with concussion following the assault at half time during the match at Tullamore GAA grounds.
Judge Susan Fay ordered Collins to pay ā¬2,000 compensation on top of Martinās ā¬360 medical bills at a sentencing hearing in Tullamore District Court.
She imposed a nine-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, on the grounds that Collins be of good behaviour, have no contact with the victim and not enter Tullamore GAAās grounds during that period.
Collins, with an address of T/C Wood Products, Cloncollig, Tullamore, was convicted under Section 3 (1) and 3 (2) of the Non-Fatal Offences against the Person Act 1997.
The case has proved divisive in Tullamore GAA, one of the largest GAA clubs in Offaly, with members split on how the club should have dealt with the case.
In his victim impact statement handed in to the judge, Martin said his family have had to withdraw from the club over its handling of the case.
āThe clubās response to the incident was deeply disappointing and hurtful,ā he wrote. āThe club committee, of which Brian was a part, chose to support Brian and ignore me. The verdict of the court has not changed this situation. Following Brianās assault on me and the position taken by the club committee, I stepped away from club involvement for my own physical and mental wellbeing. A place where I was welcome has become a place of dread and stress.ā
Martin complained that Collins had remained club treasurer for 13 months after the assault, including a number of weeks after his conviction last October, when the case was adjourned for sentencing.
He complained that Tom Moloney, the chairman, was among the clubās executive committee members that accompanied Collins to the trial.
He said other supporters of Collins from the club had āheckledā him during his evidence.
This left him āfeeling isolated and unsupportedā.
He complained that a member of the club had claimed at Tullamore GAAās agm that prosecution witnesses in the case had ācommitted perjuryā.
āI wish to place on record that, to this day, I have received no offer of support or help from the committee of Tullamore GAA Club,ā Martin wrote.
Addressing Collins, he said the club treasurer had ācaused a lot of stress to my family and myselfā, and claimed he had shown āno remorseā.
āPersonal friendā
Martin said he engaged in a restorative justice process and hoped this would bring closure. However, he said Collins ādemonstrated a staggering lack of remorseā.
āThis incident has profoundly impacted both my family and myself,ā Martin wrote. āThe assault caused physical harm, including concussion, but the psychological trauma has had a much wider effect. Iāve had to remove myself from my GAA club, a place I had wonderful memories of, due to the anxiety and distress it now brings my family and I.ā
Martin wrote that his family had faced harassment from some of Collinsās supporters since the trial and said this had forced his family, including his son, who played for the menās senior football team, to step away from the club.
Martin said his three young daughters loved watching their brother play football but they now ādread attending matchesā.
He thanked gardaĆ for their professionalism and his friends and family for their support.
Contacted by phone after the sentencing, Tom Moloney, told The Irish Times that after the incident the club took advice āfrom within the GAAā. That advice was to ānot get involvedā.
āWe let due process take its course,ā the club chairman said. āWe are volunteers, we are not professionals.ā
Asked about Martinās complaint that he had attended the trial and sat beside Collins in a show of support, Moloney said he was there āas a personal friendā to Collins.
āYou support your friend,ā said Moloney. āI was not there in my capacity as club chairman. I was not there to make a statement. I was entitled to be there as a friend.ā
Some mess
30 October 2024 was a Wednesday night.
Things got very heated over what was probably a challenge game before Tullamore started their provincial series.
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Problem throughout the GAA world - most local clubs certainly.
Ppl get into positions and are hard to move
Family ties , etc etc,
We had it in the Cork Co. Board for generations ,
Little fiefdoms are created and theyāre generally left to their own designs.
Big big big egos - clubs get divided vv easily
Normal GAA club activity - he erred by involving the Gardai and the Courts.
Was there any detail given on what happened on the night and how the assault came about?
You canāt have members of the club executive assaulting people. He should have been suspended from the role immediately afterwards, but Iām guessing if he was stil treasurer in his 70s heād a strong network within the club.
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Why did he assault him?
I wonder is the young Martin lad any use, could be a transfer there to be got.
Iād imagine one would get a fairly shrill response asking him for an Excel sheet showing the club accounts. Probably all in his head, the dinosaur.
Iād imagine Tullamore could be an early candidate for a Revenue audit
Do we know his profession?
Iām gonna say a 70 year old man running the accounts of a club like Tullamore is no daw when it comes to spreadsheets, or certainly has someone doing them for him. Maybe Iāve naive on that.
Iām being deliberately facetious mate (not on the Revenue point, mind you)
I was wondering.
I will say, its a dark day in the GAA when an Exec member cant go around and clock an errant coach from time to time.
Iāve no problem with executives clocking external coaches; one of your own, on the other hand
But theyāre the ones who really need it!