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Around Ireland Life’s a beach in Ballyconneely

February 16, 2011

By Staff Reporter

By Harry Keaney

In Connemara, g_rdaf who attempted to break up a rave party on a beach were attacked by an angry mob of mostly new age travelers who threw stones, bottles and other missiles. According to the Connacht Tribune newspaper, more than 700 people had gathered on the secluded Dunloughan Beach, in Ballyconneely, on Saturday evening for a party at which g_rdaf suspected there was a considerable amount of drugs. The g_rdaf in Clifden became aware of the trouble in Ballyconneely about 7 p.m., and drafted reinforcements from Mills Street G_rda Station in Galway City, who were also accompanied by members of a drugs unit.

The crowd remained on the beach until 9 the next morning.

Families fued in Galwa

An ongoing feud between two traveling families, the Wards and McDonaghs, could have ended in loss of life on both sides if g_rdaf had not moved last weekend to stop 11 prearranged fistfights from taking place. Travelers had even come from England to take part in the fistfights.

During the proposed encounters, guns and other weapons were to used as well, Galway District Court was told. The case arose after g_rdaf arrested four men in Clifden.

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Judge John Garavan complimented the g_rdaf on their surveillance work, which, he said, had stopped the “barbaric” fights. The judge appealed to the public to help and alert the g_rdaf if they noticed travelers congregating suspiciously anywhere in the county.

Judge Garavan remanded all four men on bail for one week on condition that no contact or threat of harassment be made by them or any member of their families to either of the families involved and that no fights take place.

In Kerry, publicans who refuse to serve travellers may not be able to renew their licences, a circuit court judge warned.

Tralee jobs now seem safe

The future of the Goblin vacuum cleaner manufacturing plant in Tralee now looks safe following its sale to Glen Dimplex for an undisclosed figure, the Kerryman newspaper reported. The plant was sold as part of the European group operation of Shop Vac Corporation, a U.S. based company. Glen Dimplex, a privately owned Irish group, employs 6,000 people at six plants in the UK, two in Germany, four in France, and one in Canada.

Concerts for 5 years at Slane

Top British band The Verve will top the bill at an Aug. 29 concert in Slane Castle in County Meath. The band, which has sold 150,000 units of its album Urban Hymns in Ireland, is now set to headline what the newspaper describes as one of the biggest ever concerts at Slane after the Irish Planning Appeals Board cleared the way for summer concerts there for the next five years.

Slane Castle owner Lord Henry Mountcharles said it was a huge relief when the planning appeals board ruled in his favor last week. A High Court case and prolonged discussions with Meath County Council relating to the staging of concerts at the castle were sometimes disheartening, Mountcharles said.

However, some residents in Slane are still concerned about security and the concerts’ impact on the village.

German shot sheriff in Cavan

A German who shot the Cavan County Sheriff and two bailiffs when they came to evict him and his terminally ill mother from a hovel was given a four-year suspended prison sentence by Judge Joseph Matthews. Jan Gerrit Joshem Isenborger, 44, Ballyleenan, Bawnboy, Co. Cavan, pleaded guilty to shooting at Thomas P. Owens on Jan. 5 at Ballyleenan. Isenborger’s mother died some hours after the shooting and, following protracted negotiations with g_rdaf, Isenborger handed over guns before finally surrendering himself.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard the incident arose because Isenborger believed his mother would die on the roadside, and he lost his reason when he saw a bailiff take a heavy sledgehammer from the trunk of a car.

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