Following the Government’s decision to move the country to Level 3 of the National Framework for Living with COVID-19, An Garda Síochána has recommenced Operation Fanacht, as a nationwide policing operation focused on supporting public compliance with public health measures.
In support of this announcement there will be high visibility patrolling by Garda members across the country with the focus of this activity continuing to be encouraging people to adhere to national public health measures.
GARDA COMMISSIONER DREW HARRIS
It will involve 132 large-scale checkpoints a day on main arterial routes around the country in addition to thousands of mobile checkpoints on secondary routes in towns and villages a week.
Commissioner Drew Harris said: “An Garda Síochána’s priority is keeping people safe. This will be a major policing operation across the country with high visibility of Garda members to support public health measures.
“An Garda Síochána is encouraging people not to travel out of their county unless it is for essential purposes.
“Since the start of the pandemic, An Garda Síochána has adopted a graduated policing approach based on its tradition of consent. We have seen compliance by most of the public with this approach. Independent surveys have also found significant public support for it. We will continue to police in this way.
The closure of the Rosslare to Waterford railway line and the implications for the Barrow Bridge were raised in Dáil Éireann on Tuesday by Waterford Green Party’s Deputy Marc Ó Cathasaigh with Minister for Environment, Climate Change, Communications and Transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan.
Deputy Ó Cathasaigh said; “We had an unhappy birthday lately in the south east with the 10th anniversary of the closure of the Rosslare to Waterford train route occurring within the past few weeks. This put an end to a rail link that joined towns across south Wexford to Waterford city, as well as supplying heavy rail infrastructure to two major ports, Belview and Rosslare Europort. Since the closure of the line, advocates for its reopening have kept a close eye on the fate of the Barrow Bridge, which is a 650 m span that links County Kilkenny and County Wexford over the River Barrow. A central part of that bridge can open to allow shipping traffic to access New Ross. Keeping the mechanism of that bridge functioning and in good order has always been essential if this line is ever to be brought back into active use.
“I was dismayed recently to receive a copy of a letter sent by the National Transport Authority, NTA, to the South-East On Track group. The letter states that the Barrow Bridge is to be maintained in the open position allowing marine traffic to traverse unencumbered, reflecting the fact that as there is no railway service on the line, it is entirely appropriate that right-of-way be given to the marine traffic. On further questioning from the South East On Track group, the NTA confirmed that the agreed arrangements in respect of the closed Waterford to Rosslare line do not include weed spraying or vegetation treatment programmes. This was previously done on an annual basis and so it cannot have been a huge draw on CIE’s resources. This sounds to me very much like a plan to abandon the line.
BRIDGETOWN LEVEL CROSSING on the Rosslare-Waterford railway line closed to passenger and freight traffic for 10 years.
In addition, there have been strong indications from the Chief Executive Officer of Wexford County Council that his preferred use of the rail line is for it to be converted to a greenway.
It is also worth noting that south Wexford, with towns like Bridgetown and Wellingtonbridge standing to benefit significantly if their local train line terminated at a newly built integrated transport hub in Waterford city.
“I ask the Minister to review immediately the NTA’s new maintenance agreement with Iarnród Éireann and revert it to pre-September 2020 status, so the line remains a viable piece of infrastructure, pending further review.
In reply, Deputy Eamon Ryan said; “As most members are aware, rail services on this line ceased in 2010 under an agreement made between the National Transport Authority and Iarnród Éireann. Several improvements were made to bus services at the time to ensure continued public transport connectivity. Undoubtedly, some people are fearful that the decision to maintain the Barrow Bridge in the open position means a point of no return as to whether services might ever return on this closed line. Equally, I do not wish to give false hope regarding the imminent return of services.
“The decision to maintain the bridge in an open position is a pragmatic one, because the line has now been closed for ten years. While the line has been closed, the port of New Ross remains open and the position of the bridge reflects the need to ensure easy navigational access to the port. I am informed that up until recently there was a requirement for four full-time Iarnród Éireann staff to be on site to open the bridge to allow ships sail to and from the port, which probably strikes most people as a little odd, to say the least.
In reply Deputy Marc Ó Cathasaigh remarked; “I am afraid it feels like a point of no return. It is something that has been closely monitored by people with an interest in this route over the years. It feels a little like a managed decline. I am also worried that we will end up tearing out an excellent and strategic piece of infrastructure with a view to developing a greenway on it.
“We have a EuroVelo route which has been developed by Wexford County Council and runs from Rosslare Europort to the Ballyhack ferry, which transports people over onto Passage East and into Waterford. It would be a much better use of resources to develop that EuroVelo route to a higher standard and to develop a corridor from Passage East into Waterford
Deputy Ryan told the House he had a meeting with Iarnród Éireann last week and raised the specific issue of the future of Rosslare Port because it is owned by CIE and Irish Rail. “I was raising it in the context of a wider review that Iarnród Éireann is commissioning on the future of rail freight in this country. I believe there is an opportunity for the expansion of rail freight. At present, only 2% of freight is carried by rail. That is a small fraction of what the average is across Europe. While some argue that the distances here are not long enough, the rest of Europe is saying it wants to switch to even greater volumes of freight traffic.”
Deputy Ryan concluded: “I commit to doing further work with the Deputy and other Deputies in the Waterford and Wexford region to examine what possibilities there might be.”
The search for two missing Gorey girls, Rachel Walsh-Wolahan and Sinead Doran, has ended successfully with both girls found safe and well.
The Walsh and Doran families are thankful to the Gardaí and the public who responded on social media.
“The response from the public was absolutely outstanding and within minutes there was a groundswell of people looking and helping us. At the same time the Gardaí in Gorey were pulling out all the stops. There have been over 11,000 shares of our request for help.
MAIN STREET, GOREY
“The Garda search moved from Gorey to Howth where Gardaí from Raheny spent many hours searching Howth Hill in the dark and successfully found the two girls in the early hours of this morning.
“The successful result was down to the unbelievable help and support which we received from the public and the utmost professionalism and determination by the members of Gorey and Raheny Gardaí to find the girls.”
“They are now both safe and a double tragedy has been averted. From the bottom of our hearts we thank you all for your help from the people who just pressed the share button and the many people who went out searching. Thank you all so much,” said a statement posted on social media.
A father has launched a public appeal on social media concerned about the whereabouts of his daughter Rachel Walsh Wolahan. He claims she has gone missing since 7pm yesterday evening (Tuesday). She is with another girl from Gorey, Sinead Doran. “They are both very vulnerable and we need urgent help from everyone to find them,” he said. Rachel was last seen in Killiney at 7pm last evening and Sinead was last seen in Gorey at 2.30pm yesterday afternoon. He concludes; “They are together and they need help. Please share.”
Tragic circumstances of how off-duty Garda David ‘Dave’ Hearne lost his life in a diving tragedy about 20kms off Hook Head, were recalled at an inquest, where the coroner returned a verdict of “death by drowning”.Sympathy was expressed to his family on their tragic loss.
Mr. Hearne was an experienced and accomplished technical diver, a former member of the Garda Water Unit, and a member of the Hook Sub Aqua Club who organised a ‘dive on’ from Slade Harbour to a shipwreck off the Wexford coast on May 25th 2019.
GARDA DAVID ‘DAVE’ HEARNE
Mr Hearne was found by diving companions near the seabed, unresponsive and with his breathing mouthpiece displaced.
Desperate efforts to revive him failed. He was removed by the Coast Guard R117 helicopter personnel to University Hospital Waterford. The naval vessel LE Orla was also sent to the scene.
A post-mortem examination was conducted at University Hospital Waterford (UHW) by pathologist Dr Fergus McSweeney.
At the inquest, the Coroner, Gerard O’Herlihy, said that death was by drowning. “Something went wrong down below, and it appears to have been a spike in oxygen, for whatever reason. It seems that the late Mr Hearne was not able to deal with that spike, it had caused him to go into a convulsion, the mouthpiece went out of his mouth.”
The jury returned a verdict in accordance with the Coroner’s statement.
Back in 2014, Waterford Marine Search and Rescue presented Garda Hearne with a new PFD (personal floating device) after he had rescued three people from the River Suir and the Colligan River in Dungarvan in the previous years. Dave trained to be a Garda at Templemore in 1994 and was initially with the Santry Underwater Unit, was later transferred to Cahir, Tipperary, and in recent times was based in Waterford Garda Station at Ballybricken.
From Innyard, Fethard-on-Sea Dave Hearne, 47, lived at Upper Grange Road in Waterford city with his wife Barbara and their children Dylan, Toby, Noah, and Libby. He was son of Declan and Gemma and brother of Bríd, Maeve and Declan and other loving family, relatives, and legion of friends.
He was laid to rest in the adjoining cemetery following Requiem Mass in the Our Lady Star of the Sea Church, Duncannon. R.I.P.
Public Masses in the Diocese of Ferns will be suspended as and from midnight tonight and will remain suspended for the duration of Level 3 of the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions imposed by the government.
The Bishop of Ferns, Dr. Denis Brennan has asked the faithful to approach the newly announced Level 3 restrictions with ‘a spirit of cooperation and solidarity, mindful of the need for sacrifice in the interests of the common good.’
BISHOP DENIS BRENNAN
“I would like to thank the priests and people of the diocese for the great energy and creativity they showed in reopening the churches. Adherence to best practice was made possible because of an army of very committed and diligent volunteers who set a standard worthy of emulation,” he said. In returning to online celebration only for daily and Sunday Masses, the bishop encouraged priests and parish personnel “to repeat and continue the high standard broadcasts which were so well developed during the last lockdown.” Bishop Brennan concluded; “Unfortunately we find ourselves in a worrying situation nationally – and responsibility which we endeavour to exercise as citizens and Christians – dictates that we double down now together, follow the basic guidelines and hopefully emerge sooner to a time when we can resume physical attendance at public worship.”
The churches of the Diocese will remain open for private prayer.
Wexford TD and Minister of State for Law Reform James Browne has confirmed to WexfordLocal.comthat the mortgage payment break already in place for local authority home loan borrowers in County Wexford will be extended for those continuing to face difficulties due to the Covid-19 emergency.
Borrowers under Wexford County Council’s home loan scheme could already avail of two payment breaks totalling up to six months and borrowers who take up a third payment break will be contacted by their local authority during the payment break to assess their financial situation and discuss options if necessary.
Commenting the Minister said; “Due to the continuing economic uncertainty associated with COVID-19, many local authority home loan borrowers in Wexford continue to face difficulties in paying their mortgage or have very real fears that they will face repayment problems in the future.
“The simplified application process in place allows borrowers in distress to access a payment break quickly. Any local authority home loan borrower facing difficulties due to COVID-19 are urged to contact Wexford County Council as soon as possible to access the information that is available on the Wexford County Council website.
“Importantly, no additional costs to the original home loan balance arise for the borrower who avails of these measures, as borrowers are not charged interest for the period of the breaks,” concluded Minister Browne.
Minister Frank Feighan, Minister of State with responsibility for Public Health, Wellbeing and the National Drugs Strategy attended the Irish National Heritage Park today to formally launch Healthy Wexford. The launch was streamed via an open access link to an online audience meaning all could attend virtually and included the launch of the Healthy Wexford County Plan 2020-2022.
The Vision for a Healthy Wexford is where everyone can enjoy physical and mental health and wellbeing to their full potential, where wellbeing is valued and supported at every level of society and is everyone’s responsibility.
Speaking at today’s launch Minister Feighan said; “At Healthy Ireland we want to ensure that everyone gets the opportunity to live a long, happy and healthy life. We want to empower every person to improve their own health and wellbeing, but to do that we need to support them to make healthy choices.”
CLLR JOHN HEGARTY, Chairman Healthy County Committee (File Pic; Joseph Dixon)
At the launch Cllr John Hegarty, Chair of the Healthy County Committee, highlighted Healthy Wexford as the structure that connects and highlights all of the great work that that is already happening, and encourages the partnerships and collaboration for future developments. “Healthy Wexford is about thinking and working differently and seeing health and wellbeing as a focus in all that we do,” concluded Cllr Hegarty.
Cathaoirleach of Wexford County Council, Cllr. Ger Carthy, highlighted that many of the determinants of health such as where we live, work, play, and age are outside of the direct influence of health and social services. However, the Local Authority touches the lives of our citizens in many of these areas each day. Therefore, Wexford County Council is uniquely placed to assist in delivering the vision for Healthy Wexford, in collaboration with agencies and communities across County Wexford.
Revenue officers seized nearly 7,100 litres of cider following a search of a Northern Ireland registered truck that had disembarked a ferry from Fishguard last Friday evening.
The smuggled alcohol had an estimated retail value of almost €31,000 representing a potential loss to the Exchequer of €12,500.
Investigations are ongoing.
These seizures are part of Revenue’s ongoing operations targeting the supply and sale of illicit alcohol products in the shadow economy. If businesses, or members of the public, have any information, they can contact Revenue in confidence on Confidential Phone Number 1800 295 295.
Niall Kennedy is still a world sporting hero in his native Gorey and is credited with doing his country proud despite a bruising end to his fight against Croatian Alen Babic tonight.
Kennedy was no match for his opponent and was on the floor twice before the referee called a halt to the gruelling contest in the third round.
Report on the fight by Richard Damerell of SKY SPORTS.
ALEN BABIC and NIALL KENNEDY in action in tonight’s big fight which was viewed in Ireland on SKY SPORTS
By Richard Damerell – SKY SPORTS
Last Updated: 04/10/20 9:47pm
Alen Babic blasted out Niall Kennedy in the third round as ‘The Savage’ continued his destructive progress as a heavyweight contender.
The Croatian was extended into the third round for the first time, but swiftly finished off Kennedy with an explosive assault to bring up his fifth straight knockout win.
Charging out from his corner, Babic unloaded a barrage of early hooks, and Kennedy had to withstand clubbing shots in the opening round.
Kennedy wilted to the canvas in the second, with the referee ruling out a knockdown, but Babic continued to hammer away with brutal punches from both hands.
A short, savage hook sent Kennedy toppling to the floor in the third and Babic ruthlessly followed up with more sustained shots to force the referee’s intervention.
