Around Ireland Regrets, too late

By Patrick Markey

Ireland’s national broadcast company, RTE, has been forced to issue a statement of regret after convicted rapist took his own life in prison when he heard a radio advertisement calling him "the beast."

The Irish Times newspaper reported that Anthony Cawley committed suicide in his prison cell on April 14 after hearing the radio advertisement publicizing a newspaper article about him.

Wheatfield prison governor John O’Sullivan said the prisoner had expressed his concern at the ad and its possible effect on his family.

RTE executive Bob Collins said in a letter that the advertisement as submitted should not have been accepted by RTE and he regretted it had been broadcast. Collins described the use of the animalistic phrase as inappropriate and degrading.

Cawley, who was 33, had been serving the longest sentence for sexual crime ever handed down in Ireland and was due for release in 2005. In 1987, he was sentenced to 20 years for the vicious rape of a woman in Dublin city center.

Three years later he was sentenced to a 10-year concurrent term for the attempted murder of a prisoner in Limerick prison. And in 1996, Cawley was sentenced to an additional eight years for the prison rape of a cellmate in Arbour Hill prison, the first such case to be prosecuted in Irish courts.

Cawley was taken into the care of the State when he was 2 years old, and he had spent time in a County Wicklow children’s home, where he was repeatedly raped and abused by staff.

Cheap island getaway

Fancy your own island?

For just £320,000 an idyllic getaway can be yours just ten miles from Newtowncashel.

Thanks to Dublin-based auctioneers Ganly Walters, who teamed up with Sotheby’s International Realty in London, one of the most scenic areas on the Shannon network is now for sale, reports the Longford Leader newspaper.

Clawinch Island covers about 50 acres and it was inhabited until the 1950s when the island’s families resettled in the Newtowncashel area.

A teacher used travel to the island on a boat from the mainland each Monday morning and stayed on the island until Friday.

For the more intrepid owner, the island boasts a derelict residence with three rooms, which salespeople believe would be ideal for restoration.

Salesman Robert Ganly said that the island would probably appeal to those seeking an unusual hideaway or, alternatively, international property seekers who fancy the idea of owning an Irish island.

Making a bee line

Early morning shoppers at the Omni Center in Dublin’s Santry area literally couldn’t believe their eyes or ears recently as an innocent looking advertising sign quickly became home to thousands of honey bees.

The Northside People newspaper reported that the bees, traveling in swarm, swooped on the sign and over the next few hours multiplied their number to several thousand and hung there like an inside-out hive.

Security men from the shopping center quickly sealed off the area, while management decided what to do about their unusual dilemma. The pest controllers Rentokil were initially consulted, but they told management that the bees are a protected species. Rentokill asked them to call the Beekeepers Association of Ireland.

"The beekeeper eventually arrived and after donning his protective clothing succeeded in removing the queen bee, which resulted in the bees evacuating the site Omni Centre," said manager Tony Thompson.

"Luckily, nobody got stung during the whole episode, although several of my security men were carrying ‘rosol sprays, just in case," he said.