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Galway Advertiser 2005/2005_02_10/GA_1002_E1_010.pdf
10 N E W S
Galway Advertiser
February 10 2005
Alt.com City man who attacked
BY JEFF O'CONNELL
Time's up for Republican mobsters
There'll be no photo opportunities for Adams and McGuinness at this year's White House St Patrick's Day shindig. In a reworking of Cinderella, Sinn Fein's two `ugly sisters' have not received their coveted invitations to the ball. This year's jamboree will be a decidedly lowkey affair as, in fact, none of the North's political parties will be going. But there's no question that President Bush's decision is aimed chiefly at Sinn Fein and is intended to send out a clear signal that the White House will have nothing to do with a political party that has a private army that also doubles as crime mob. Happily, things are set to get much worse for the SF/IRA panto horse with the publication today of the Independent Monitoring Commission's report on paramilitary activity in the North. Not only is it expected to point the finger directly at the IRA for December's Northern Bank robbery, it will also highlight increased IRA criminal activity in greater detail than anything said by the Irish or British governments so far. Although it is heartening to see both the Irish and British governments finally opening their eyes to the folly of appeasement, the truth is the Northern bank robbery was almost inevitable, given both governments' `softly softly' approach to burgeoning evidence of IRA criminal activity. The thinking seems to have been that so long as it didn't get out of hand, punishment shootings and beatings, mob-like intimidation, cross-border smuggling, and robbery would be tolerated in the interests of `the peace process'. Particularly disgraceful has been the way two murders committed during the course of IRA robberies have been treated. The first was shortly after the IRA's 1994 ceasefire and involved the shooting dead of Frank Kerr, a postal worker, during the robbery of a sorting office. The second, in 1996, was the murder of Garda Jerry McCabe in the course of another robbery. In both cases, the line was that the IRA hadn't really intended to kill either of the two men; it was only after the money. It seems to have been the sheer scale of the Northern bank robbery, as well the sickening realisation by Ahern and Blair they were being played as patsies, that proved the final straw. But the lax and unprincipled way in which both governments have treated mounting evidence of IRA criminality provided the context in which such an audacious robbery could take place. So invincible, so above the law, did Sinn Fein/IRA believe itself to be, it really believed it could pull off the huge Northern Bank raid and get away with it. Since Christmas we have had four IRA statements, two signed and two passed to journalists. The first two denied the robbery, the second pair warned of dire consequences if the IRA continued to take the blame. All are more ludicrous than frightening. The original pair said, in effect: "We didn't do it". And Adams told us he'd asked the IRA and they'd assured him, "We didn't do it". McGuinness even referred to an internal investigation which concluded - yep, you got it "We didn't do it." Much to the consternation of the Panto Horse, these denials were not believed. So P O'Neill got cross and issued a long statement - I wish I could reproduce the whole nauseating, self-serving thing - in which, on behalf of the IRA, he declares: "We do not intend to remain quiescent within this unacceptable and unstable situation. It has tried our patience to the limit." Finally, really getting impatient now, P O'Neill, sounding a bit like the evil Nazi facing the downed RAF pilot, threatened: "Do not underestimate the seriousness of the situation." I think he sounds more like that guy in the Monty Python sketch about the Spanish Inquisition. "Right! If that's the way you want it -- Cardinal! Poke him with ... the soft cushions!" Maybe, like me, you want to ask: Just who do these guys think they are? Trying their patience? Murderers, gangsters, moral cretins who can't make the connection between `wrong' and `criminal'? `Patriots' who smuggle cigarettes and rob warehouses and rival Tony Soprano in the range of their `business interests'? Hey Gerry, what would Pearse think. eh? Or Wolfe Tone? Let Adams and McGuinness cool their heels in the outer darkness. Let the IRA try to re-start the `armed struggle' and see how far that gets them. Did anyone ever seriously believe in the fantasy of disarmament? Without their guns, without their private army, and without their extensive criminal organisation, Sinn Fein/IRA are nothing. This Irish version of the mafia has fallen victim to what the Greeks called `hubris' - the overweening pride and arrogance that comes just before disaster strikes. And it can't strike too soon.
three women is a danger to society warns judge
A 29-years-old man who sent a pornographic letter and a condom through the post to a counsellor whom he had sexually assaulted during a counselling session for deviant sexual behaviour, was sentenced to 21 months in prison this week at Galway District Court. Passing sentence, Judge Mary Fahy said the accused was `a gross and serious danger to society' and he should be identified in the media as he was a real threat to all females. Declan Quinlivan, 76 Innishannagh Park, Rahoon, pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting the young woman at a counselling centre in Ballybane, Galway, on November 2 last year. Quinlivan went on to assault two other women on the streets of Galway on two separate dates last month and demanded sex from them before being arrested and held in custody until his court appearance this week. His first offence occurred last November when he was being counselled for his deviant sexual behaviour. He was speaking to a female counsellor about having rape tendencies when he suddenly lunged at her, pushed her up against a wall and tried to kiss her. Staff came to her rescue and the accused was arrested. Inspector Pat McHugh said that after this assault, the accused had sent the woman a letter which contained a condom. Reading the letter, Judge Mary Fahy said its contents were pornographic, insulting and highly upsetting for anyone who would receive it. Reading a report which the counsellor had submitted, the judge said it was clear she had suffered greatly as a result of this attack. Outlining the two other assaults, Sergeant Willie Beirne, gave evidence that Quinlivan held a broken bottle to a young girl's neck and demanded sex as she sat on a riverbank bench with a friend at 11.30pm on January 15 last. The third woman was accosted by the accused at University Road, Newcastle, on January 2 at 11.20pm. Quinlivan ran up behind the young woman, grabbed her around the face and neck and knocked her to the ground. Garda Michael Guerin said he was in the vicinity and Quinlivan was arrested. Judge Fahy said it was time for the DPP to "wake up" when she heard that one young woman had a broken bottle held to her throat. The accused had been charged on the directions of the DPP with a Section 2 assault. "The DPP should be asked to wake up. Section 2 assault is a common assault, which used to mean a push or a shove under the old legislation. A bottle was put to this young girl's neck in the dark and sex was demanded. There is something very wrong if he [accused] is only charged with a Section 2 assault," the judge commented. The judge lifted a restriction which had prevented the publication of Quinlivan's name until yesterday. She said people needed to know his identity because he was a gross and serious threat to society. She noted that he had bleached his hair blond in an attempt to avoid detection while committing these offences and this showed he had an insight into the seriousness of his actions. "Society deserves to know the name of a person who has very serious tendencies to assault females. I have very grave concerns about him. The so-called poem he sent to the injured party in one of the cases in very disconcerting. He sexually assaulted a professional person and then sent her an offensive poem in the post accompanied by a condom," the judge said. She sentenced Quinlivan to nine months in prison for the sexual assault on the counsellor, a further six months, to run consecutively, for having a bottle which he used in one assault, two months for assaulting that woman at the riverbank, four months, to run consecutively for the assault on the woman on University Road, also to run consecutively. Quinlivan was placed on the Sex Offenders Register and the judge recommended he receive counselling for his deviant sexual tendencies while in prison. She also warned him not to contact any of the women involved in the case. Recognisance was fixed in the event of an appeal.
Theological institute may be included in St Mary's
BY KERNAN ANDREWS Major changes are proposed for St Mary's College which could see its dormitories transformed into a Diocesan Pastoral Centre and theological institute. The Trustees of St Mary's College, St Mary's Road, have applied to the Galway City Council for permission for a new entrance, reception, meeting rooms, stair, lift shaft. Permission is also sought to convert the former dormitories and dining room into a Diocesan Pastoral Centre. St Mary's College is a protected structure. The foundation stone was laid for the building on May 28 1910 by the then Bishop of Galway Dr O'Dee. For decades it was both a boarding and a day school. However since 2003 the school no longer keeps boarders. According to the Conservation & Impact Statement to the council from Niall J Kearns & Co Architects, the trustees are concerned that if the dormitories are left unused, they will deteriorate. It is proposed that these now "unused areas" could be used for a Diocesan Pastoral Centre for counselling, retreats, and education, for premarital counselling serves from Accord, and for the Western Theological Institute to develop courses and renewal of parishes and dioceses in the west of Ireland.
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