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Around Ireland Woman fights for a home in Cork

February 16, 2011

By Staff Reporter

By Patrick Markey

Geraldine O’Hara wanted a home. So the 39-year-old mother of three planned to live in a tent outside Cork City Hall until she was provided with place to live.

According to the Examiner newspaper, O’Hara claimed she had been intimidated out of her own home and planned to camp outside city hall with her children, Denise, 14, Darren, 11, and Vicky, 8. The unemployed single mother was advised by gardaí not to return to her home after she was assaulted and her house robbed and vandalized.

"I have nowhere to go. I am terrified to go back to my house, the guards told me not to for my own safety. I will take anything from the Corporation, a one-bed flat, anything," she said.

Since leaving the family home, O’Hara had been sleeping in her Ford Fiesta each night with children Denise and Darren. Her youngest child is living with her sister.

Gardai said relatives of those suspected in the assault could intimidate and threaten the family if they returned home.

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The family left for England some weeks ago, but returned because they missed their native Cork.

Mayo madness

A County Mayo man went on trial recently charged with poisoning four elderly women by giving them drinks which knocked them virtually unconscious.

Two of the victims ended up in Mayo General Hospital, the judge was told on the opening day of the trial of defendant John Hope, who is currently serving a sentence on another charge.

The Irish Independent reports that one victim, Teresa Connaughton, told the court that on Dec. 31, 1997 Hope visited her house and persuaded her to drink soup, which he made from cans taken from his coat.

She later felt a pain in her stomach and had to go to bed. Two weeks later, Hope persuaded her to drink 7-Up, which he brought to her house. She fell asleep at midnight and did not wake up until 4:30 p.m. the next day.

Another alleged victim, Belinda Kelly, said Hope gave her whisky after calling to her home. She remembered nothing more until she woke up in hospital.

Tina Kavanagh said that after Hope gave her what appeared to be red lemonade, she became dizzy. She did not wake until after noon the next day.

"I felt pure weak and the sweat was coming out of me," she said.

No motive has yet been established for the alleged poisoning attacks.

Nightmare Nenagh?

Nenagh may be great for its natives, but the County Tipperary locale has just been awarded the dubious accolade of Ireland’s second worst town.

The award comes out of a "Name the Worst Town in Ireland" competition organized by trendy Dublin based magazine "Himself."

Reports the Tuam Herald newspaper, the magazine arrived at the verdict because Nenagh was seen as neglected and a town full of mean, tight-fisted people.

"If Nenagh was a town in a Mr. Men story it would be the home of Mr. Misery or Mr. Mean," quoted the article.

"Whatever was never a handsome town to begin with has been further ruined by neglect," the magazine article stated. The town’s Pearse Street is home to an ugly fast food restaurant and a dilapidated hotel. And Nenagh’s saving grace — Silvermines soon to house a brand new rubbish dump.

Nenagh officials were quick to respond. Peter Ward, the Nenagh Chamber of Commerce representative, accused the magazine of stirring controversy simply as a publicity stunt.

Nenagh Urban District Councilor Jimmy Moran said the piece smacked of a badly researched journalism.

"If anyone from Himself magazine would care to ramble down this neck of the woods, then I would be only too glad to give them a personal guided tour of Nenagh and show to them how much this town has to offer."

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