JJ Rhatigan and Spanish firm launch legal battle against Department of Housing
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The Irish Sun
5 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Diner's fury as trendy Ibiza bar charges her £10 just to hang her BAG up – and she has the receipt to prove it
The restaurant hit back saying it was a 'misunderstanding' ON THE HOOK Diner's fury as trendy Ibiza bar charges her £10 just to hang her BAG up – and she has the receipt to prove it OUTRAGED diners have slammed an Ibiza bar after it charged a diner £10 to hang her handbag on a table hook. The fuming customer even shared the receipt to prove the bizarre fee which was slapped on her check at a sushi restaurant on the Spanish island. 3 The restaurant is located in holiday hotspot Ibiza (stock) Credit: Instagram / @sjhoneywell 3 A restaurant charged a customer £10 for a 'bag hook' Credit: Advertisement Tourist Laura Cunei took to social media to share the mind-boggling check which she received after eating at Wakame Ibiza. The receipt said she had been charged €12 (£10) for "gancho bolsa" which means "bag hook" as part of her meal on August 5. She wrote: "The waitress kindly offers to hang our bags on a little hook at the table. "We decline her offer, but due to her insistence, we accepted. Advertisement "Our surprise upon seeing the this normal? Is it legal?" The stunned diner added: "When we saw the receipt, we told them it didn't seem right to pay that much because we hadn't asked for it. "They told us we could keep the hook if we wanted. "After our refusal and our incredulous expressions, they gave us a new receipt without the 'bag hook' tag." Advertisement Seething social media users piled on outraged comments on the social media post. Hospitality expert Jesus Soriano, who uploads real-life examples of restaurant rip-offs, shared her post on TikTok. Monkey gang caught 'running scam' targeting tourists at sacred temple One outraged user said: "They'll be charging us to breathe next." Another user even made the jaw-dropping claim that they had been charged extra for having a "good" table. Meanwhile another weighed in saying on one occasion they had been charged nearly £2 per person for not having starters. Advertisement Spain's consumer protection agency OCU replied to the post on X giving a link to file a complaint. The restaurant's furious bosses later claimed the charge had been a "misunderstanding". Wakame Ibiza said on Instagram: "The amount that appeared on the ticket was the result of an error in our system. "It was marked as a merchandising item with a price, when it should have been shown with zero cost." It comes as diners around the world have been slapped with other unexpected surcharges as part of their restaurant receipts. Advertisement In the US, outraged diners slammed restaurants for adding extra surcharges onto receipts. The hidden fees were branded "silly and disingenuous" by online users, who poured out on social media to vent their fury at the changes. Tourists have also reported other alleged scams in popular holiday hotspots. Fuming Brit holidaymakers reeled in by prices as low as £7 accused Croatian-based Carwiz of bullying sales tactics, fabricating damage, verbal abuse and even assault. Online reviews of the firm's franchises seen by The Sun allege staff have forged documents, up-sold unnecessary insurance, and taken unauthorised payments from credit cards. Advertisement
Sunday World
a day ago
- Sunday World
Meeting man who assaulted me gave me back my power — don't deny others the same right
The average person might assume this is the correct decision. But who are we to make that decision? Ailbhe Griffith: 'I wanted to know why he did it and why he did it to me.' Picture: Damien Eagers / INM When I read recent news reports about a Spanish woman's request for a restorative justice meeting with the man who raped her on a Dublin city centre street, I was delighted. Having gone through the same process myself, I knew how life-changing it can be. Imagine my disappointment, then, when the court was told that, even though the attacker agreed to meet the woman, the court was told by the Probation Service that this could not happen. The reason? He did not accept full responsibility for his crime. The average person might assume this is the correct decision. But who are we to make that decision? Surely this woman should be allowed to proceed, should she wish, with the benefit of this information. While much positive work has been done in restorative justice by the Victims' Unit of the Probation Service, I'm desperately disappointed in the outcome here. When Prof Marie Keenan and I approached the Probation Service in 2014 seeking a restorative justice meeting with the man who physically and sexually assaulted me on my way home, we were met with caution. The offender in my case was considered a risk. He initially refused to meet, but changed his mind some months later. In my case, he had pleaded guilty but I was told he was not willing to apologise to me in the restorative justice meeting. Many people would have expected me to back out, but I had no intention of doing so. An apology wasn't even on my radar. I wanted to know why he did it and why he did it to me. I wanted to know if he had intended to kill me. More than anything, I wanted an opportunity to sit in a safe space and look at him directly in the eyes. It was a soul-level yearning that would not dissipate. Many along the way had tried to dissuade me, reminding me that he was dangerous, that he could never give me honest answers, but they were missing the point. It wasn't about getting something 'from' him. What I needed was to take back my power in his presence by facing my fears. Prof Marie Keenan, who helped Ailbhe Griffith in her push for a restorative justice meeting During the assault, the only word in my mind was 'stop'. As soon as I was rescued, the next word was 'why'. This is a man I had never spoken to in my life, and yet he had directed his venomous hatred and rage at me. As I tore at the grass to stop myself from screaming as he bit me repeatedly, I was certain he would kill me. He transformed into a monster — I had never seen a human behave that way. I knew it wasn't me, Ailbhe, he wanted to attack or destroy. I wasn't a human to him either; just a representation of a female on whom he could act out his misogynistic rage. But the dehumanisation needed to end. The truth was, the more of a monster he was to me, the more of a victim I felt. But I did not want to live in a perpetual state of disempowerment. I knew he could not escape seeing my humanity if he was sitting in a chair opposite me, unlike during the court appearances, when he didn't glance at me even once. Participating in restorative justice has changed 'the memory card' for me. Sometimes around mid-summer, even 20 years later, I'll find myself walking at night, when the smell of the warm summer air transports me back to the assault. I go back to the seconds before it happened and the crescendo of terror that I felt. And just as the terrifying memories flood in, I remember something else, another time with this same man. Same person, completely different context. I remember how healing it was to face him in a restorative justice meeting and how I got all the answers to my questions. I remember speaking with him, human to human, and the moments where we wished each other well. As I continue my walk, I smile all the way down to my core and remember that I have my power back and I continue with peace in my heart. I wish the same for this Spanish woman, and so many others who deserve nothing less. It is time to give victims their power back by giving them the right to choose restorative justice. Those working within the criminal justice system should not reinforce their victimhood by taking that choice away — we owe them that.
Sunday World
a day ago
- Sunday World
Broke mobster John Gilligan begs for cash in WhatsApp texts
Gangster faces trial over pink cocaine haul Gangster John Gilligan is so desperate to get out of jail that he has organised a begging message which is being spread across WhatsApp groups. Gilligan has been banged up in prison in Spain since he was nabbed in a swoop on a pink cocaine ring in Alicante. He was placed in custody last December but it is understood he already owed a lawyer money from previous court appearances and has nothing left in the bank to pay the bill. The message which is being shared across Alicante and Ireland reads: 'My name is **** I am a good friend of John Gilligan, he is 73, and in prison in Spain broke. John helped loads in his life and now he needs help money wise, no amount too small. 'Please share this WhatsApp wth you friend an how John's friends get to see it. To sent to lawyers bank account (Details given). RE John Gilligan. Money gram, western union or bank transfers.' Spanish police arrest John Gilligan Gilligan is more than eight months behind bars in Forcalent but under Spanish law it could take up to four years before he is even charged with an offence as magistrates take on police investigations and review the findings before charges are levelled. Gilligan had previously hoped his former partner, Sharon Oliver, would hand around his begging bowl after he was nabbed in her two-bedroom apartment with a large quantity of pink cocaine and another synthetic substance. He had been living in the property rent free after she had returned to England following her own arrest on a previous drug offence which resulted in a fine for Gilligan and a suspended sentence. Oliver was ultimately cleared in court of involvement in Gilligan's drugs business. Friends say Gilligan is 'washed up', broke and hoping that his begging text will urge former associates to dig deep and help. He was once Ireland's biggest drug dealer before his gang murdered journalist Veronica Guerin and he got a massive sentence for cannabis trafficking. After his release from jail he was shot and ended up in the protection of associates of the McCarthy- Dundon gang in the UK as he recovered, a set up that was a huge drain on what finances he had left. He eventually moved back to Spain where he once owned a number of properties as well as the pub, The Judges Chambers. The text asking for people to give cash to Gilligan There he has been low level street dealing and was arrested when police discovered a mail order cannabis and tablet operation he was running. Despite a short time in custody he was able to secure bail and all but beat those charges. He recorded a lengthy documentary interview after his release insisting he had nothing to do with the murder of Veronica Guerin. However last December his luck ran out and he was arrested following a lengthy surveillance operation by police investigating a pink cocaine factory. While Spanish magistrates tend to be lenient on cannabis charges there is no such soft approach to synthetic drug dealing. Gilligan's visitors have been few at Forcalent prison where he was held over Christmas, New Year and throughout this summer. Sharon Oliver had visited him initially but it is understood that she suspected he had been with another woman in her absence and while he was living in her home. John Gilligan speaking to reporter Nicola Tallant after a court appearance While the quantity of drugs involved in the investigation was massive ledgers that Gilligan was keeping suggest he was only a small cog in the wheel, collecting small debts and even street dealing and delivering small consignments himself for a larger group. The begging text began to circulate earlier this summer and those who received it were urged to send it on to their own WhatsApp groups. However, Gilligan already needed to pay off his debts from previous court appearances before he can even consider applying for bail. The Spanish police operation leading to Gilligan's December 18 arrest was named Operation Overlord and involved officers from elite Spanish police anti-drug units, including one person based in the province of Murcia south of Alicante as well as the UK's National Crime Agency. Drugs (above) and (below) a gun seized from Gilligan's property by Spanish police . A spokesman for the National Police in Murcia said in the force's first statement after Gilligan's arrest, where he wasn't named but was described as a member of the Irish mafia, that: 'The National Police has dismantled a synthetic drugs lab. 'Nine people have been arrested, including the leader of the criminal organisation, a man belonging to the Irish mafia who had expanded his criminal activities to several parts of the eastern Spanish coast and continually changed home between the provinces of Murcia and Alicante to hinder his localisation.' According to reports in the Spanish media, police also recovered hand-written notes left behind by Gilligan in which he detailed his various drug deals and begs for cash 'to pay my bills'. Bizarrely, Gilligan appears to have put himself in legal difficulty by leaving exact notes about his drug-dealing operation. In the notes, the gangster had allegedly jotted down the details of some of his customers and other dealers, in code. He refers to a 'Jaime, 777, EBBS, Villa, John, Taxi Mark' while keeping note of payments made, the quantities of drugs delivered, and even agreements with other drug traffickers. 'Hi, Bud. Have a new deal for you,' reads a page in one of the notebooks seized by police. Along with ketamine he was 'getting for 170 euros an ounce here' there is an offer 'to you now 10oz for 1000'. John Gilligan is banged up in Spanish prison Today's News in 90 Seconds - 17 August He also has 'pink Tusi' also known as pink cocaine, that he was getting for 28g for 280 euros, adding 'they in 1 gram bag'. 'I can give you 3 ounces and 9 1kg bags for 400 euros,' he offers. Total cash for this deal is '1400.00' but the man who was once behind multi-million drug deals angles for a quick sale, adding: 'I need cash to pay my bills ASAP.' However, he adds 'if cant (sic), cool, bud.' Spanish police claim they recovered 'numerous chemical products, precursors and laboratory material or equipment was discovered' during the raids. They stated this confirmed 'the existence of a criminal organisation dedicated to establishing clandestine synthetic drug laboratories in our territory'. During the operation, the National Police seized more than 16 kilograms of Tusi; 2.5 kilos of cocaine; 540 litres of 'precursors'; 93.5 kilograms of cutting substances for the production of synthetic drugs and a 75-litre drum of methylamine. The seized drugs could have reached a value on the illicit market 'of between four and eight million euros.'
