Latest news with #Ballyfermot
Irish Times
29-05-2025
- General
- Irish Times
‘Waking up in hell': Dublin family subject to arson attack in case of mistaken identity
Artist Pat Curran stands in his sitting room in Ballyfermot appearing lost for words. His hands are black with soot as he points to the corner where he was sleeping over a week ago when a petrol bomb was thrown through his front window. 'I would equate it to waking up in hell,' Curran recalls. The 68-year-old had fallen asleep on his couch in the early hours of May 21st when his home on Landen Road in west Dublin was subject to an arson attack, in what gardaí said was a case of mistaken identity. Curran's wife Breda and their son Luke (20) were sleeping upstairs. The family managed to escape, but their dog Zach died in the blaze. READ MORE 'I woke up to the sound of breaking glass and fire spreading all out in front of me,' says Curran. 'I started screaming to get the others up and I tried to put the fire out by throwing a blanket on it, and stood on it. 'I'm actually lucky, and I don't say this lightly, that I didn't think I was in a nightmare and went back to sleep, because that's what it was - nightmarish.' Curran, who is originally from Dolphin's Barn and grew up in Pimlico, has been living in the area with his wife and their children for more than 30 years. Breda, originally from Bluebell and a social care worker, says she awoke to the sound of crashing, and could hear shouts. 'I could hear Luke screaming saying 'What's wrong with Dad?' I jumped up and as I was running down the stairs I could see the heat and I said 'Oh Jesus, it's a fire'. 'We ran outside to the front as we have a hose with a tap. I was trying to get in to the fire, calling out for the dog, but there was fire coming from everywhere and I couldn't see him.' The family have spent recent days clearing out the house, including going through Pat Curran's artwork, most of which was damaged in the fire. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill/The Irish Times Neighbours called the Fire Brigade , who arrived within minutes to put out the blaze, while Breda and Luke were treated for smoke inhalation. Curran's eldest son John plays footage on his phone from the property's Ring doorbell of the attack. It shows a person setting a large petrol can alight and throwing it through the house's downstairs window. Screams can be heard from Pat and Luke in the video, which Breda says she has been unable to watch. The couple have no house insurance, and a GoFundMe page has been set up to help repair their home. The family have spent recent days clearing out the house, including going through Curran's artwork, most of which was damaged in the fire. They are currently staying with relatives, while Curran, whose work focuses largely on community, plans to hold an exhibition of the burnt paintings in the future. 'You have that stigma, people saying 'nothing happens for nothing'. But out there in the community, everybody knew straight away, everybody knew it was mistaken identity,' he adds. Breda Curran takes in the damage to her home after the arson attack, in Ballyfermot, Dublin. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill/The Irish Times 'The police said they couldn't tell me anything about the investigation, they just said 'it wasn't meant for youse'. I never really felt old, but this is after taking lumps out of me. 'But it has also renewed my faith in the people of Ballyfermot, the community spirit that has been shown to us. People that don't even know us have been supporting us, as well as the art world. 'It's very hard to come out of this with your soul and mind intact. I think there will have to be counselling down the road, when you think of the devastation that's after being wrecked upon us. It will take a long time to get over this.'
Irish Times
26-05-2025
- Irish Times
Sentencing of man who provided getaway cars for attempted murder deferred
A violent offender who provided the getaway cars used by an organised crime gang in the attempted murder of Dublin criminal Gary Carey went on to terrorise a family during a home invasion while out on bail, a court has heard. Lawyers for Patrick Fitzgerald (48) – who is known as 'Mr Fishy' - asked the Central Criminal Court on Monday to consider the issue of totality when passing sentence, so as to ensure his prison term will not be 'intolerable'. Fitzgerald, with an address at Glenties Park in Finglas, Dublin 11, was initially charged with the attempted murder of Mr Carey (35) at Ballyfermot Crescent, Ballyfermot, Dublin 10 on November 17th, 2021 but earlier this month pleaded guilty to facilitating a criminal organisation. The court heard on Monday that Fitzgerald, who has 72 previous convictions, had issues with drug addiction in the past and had been a 'habitual user of cocaine'. READ MORE Last February he was jailed for seven and a half years after a court heard he was part of a gang that invaded a family home in the early morning, terrorising a couple in their 70s, their daughter and a six-year-old child. In victim impact statements read to the court on Monday on their behalf, Mr Carey's family said they had been left 'devastated' by the attempt on his life. 'In one moment, these people changed our lives forever,' his daughters Shauna and Shanice said. 'From that night we lost our sense of community as we no longer felt safe anywhere,' they said. 'We got nervous when cars pulled up with tinted windows…worrying will these criminals come back? Will they hurt us?' At a sentencing hearing on Monday, Det Sgt Ronan McDermott from Ballyfermot Garda station told prosecuting senior counsel Ronan Kennedy that on the evening of November 17th, 2021 Mr Carey was in the company of an associate at a house in Ballyfermot Crescent in Dublin. At around 7.30pm, Mr Carey left the property and got into his car but as he attempted to leave the driveway his path was blocked by a black Opel Zafira with two unidentified occupants. Ten shots were fired from the Zafira into the windscreen of Mr Carey's car and he sustained two gunshot wounds to his torso. The victim managed to exit the vehicle, run back through the house and climb over a wall in the rear garden of another property where he remained until gardaí and ambulance crew arrived. He was brought to St James' Hospital where he underwent surgery and remained in hospital until November 21st. Having survived the attempt on his life, Mr Carey relocated his family to Spain where he lived for a period of time, the court heard. Following his return to Ireland there was another attempt on his life on June 24th, 2022 and he died from his injuries on August 5 that year. Det Sgt McDermott confirmed to counsel that Mr Carey was known to gardaí and it was believed he had 'fallen foul' of an Organised Crime Group (OCG) based in Ballyfermot who were involved in the large-scale sale, supply and distribution of drugs and serious firearm activity. He said the defendant has 72 previous convictions, including aggravated burglary, false imprisonment, assault causing harm, theft, violent disorder and numerous road traffic offences. Mr Kennedy told the court that the maximum sentence for an offence of this type is 15 years. Bernard Condon SC, representing Fitzgerald, said his client had difficulties with drugs in the past and was brought up by his sister after both his parents died when he was a teenager. Counsel said Fitzgerald worked as a pot washer for a while before he 'began to drift' and his difficulties with drugs began in his late 20s. Mr Condon said Fitzgerald became a 'habitual user of cocaine' and he struggled with this addiction until 2014, when he got clean and 'life went well' for a period before he relapsed in 2020. He said Fitzgerald has been doing in prison and was attempting to turn his life around. He said there was no doubt the plea of guilty was of value to the prosecution. Mr Condon said there was no statutory requirement for the court to make the sentence consecutive to the term Fitzgerald is already serving. However, he said if the court did plan to go down this route, he asked that it consider the issue of totality. 'I would ask the court to substantially deduct from whatever the sentence is so the final sentence would not be intolerable,' he said. Ms Justice Eileen Creedon adjourned the matter to July 7th.
BreakingNews.ie
26-05-2025
- BreakingNews.ie
'Mr Fishy' terrorised family during home invasion while out on bail, court hears
A violent offender who provided the getaway cars used by an organised crime gang in the attempted murder of Dublin criminal Gary Carey went on to terrorise a family during a home invasion while out on bail, a court has heard. Lawyers for Patrick Fitzgerald (48) – who is known as 'Mr Fishy' - asked the Central Criminal Court on Monday to consider the issue of totality when passing sentence, so as to ensure his prison term will not be "intolerable". Advertisement Fitzgerald was initially charged with the attempted murder of Mr Carey (35) at Ballyfermot Crescent, Ballyfermot, Dublin 10 on November 17th, 2021 but earlier this month pleaded guilty to facilitating a criminal organisation. The court heard that Fitzgerald, who has 72 previous convictions, had issues with drug addiction in the past and had been a 'habitual user of cocaine'. Last February he was jailed for seven and a half years after a court heard he was part of a gang that invaded a family home in the early morning, terrorising a couple in their 70s, their daughter and a six-year-old child. Mr Carey survived the attack on his life but was subsequently fatally injured in a separate shooting seven months later. Advertisement In victim impact statements read to the court on their behalf, Mr Carey's family said they had been left 'devastated' by the attempt on his life. 'In one moment, these people changed our lives forever,' his daughters Shauna and Shanice said. At a sentencing hearing on Monday, Det Sgt Ronan McDermott from Ballyfermot Garda Station told prosecuting senior counsel Ronan Kennedy that on the evening of November 17th, 2021 Mr Carey was in the company of an associate at a house in Ballyfermot Crescent in Dublin. At around 7:30pm, Mr Carey left the property and got into his car but as he attempted to leave the driveway his path was blocked by a black Opel Zafira with two unidentified occupants on board. Advertisement Ten shots were fired from the Zafira into the windscreen of Mr Carey's car and he sustained two gunshot wounds to his torso. The victim managed to exit the vehicle, run back through the house and climb over a wall in the rear garden of another property where he remained until gardaí and ambulance crew arrived. He was brought to St Jame's Hospital where he underwent surgery and remained in hospital until November 21st. Having survived the attempt on his life, Mr Carey relocated his family to Spain where he lived for a period of time, the court heard. Following his return to Ireland there was another attempt on his life on June 24th, 2022 and he died from his injuries on August 5th that year. Advertisement Det Sgt McDermott confirmed to counsel that Mr Carey was known to gardai and it was believed he had 'fallen foul' of an Organised Crime Group (OCG) based in Ballyfermot who were involved in the large-scale sale, supply and distribution of drugs and serious firearm activity. The court heard that after the shooting in November 2021, the Zafira fled in the direction of Ballyfermot parade, where it was burned out. The two shooters then drove off in a gold Toyota Avensis which had been parked up at this location as a second getaway vehicle. This vehicle was subsequently found burned out in Finglas. Audi A4 Det Sgt McDermott said that the Zafira had been purchased through Done Deal and the seller told gardaí that the man who bought the car had arrived in a blue Audi A4. The phone used to purchase the vehicle was subsequently attributed to the defendant by gardaí. Advertisement Mr Kennedy said the gold Toyota Avensis was also purchased through Done Deal and the number used to make the purchase was the same number attributed to Mr Fitzgerald. The following day, CCTV showed Fitzgerald filling up two Jerry cans at a petrol station and subsequently filling the Avensis with the fuel. Shortly after 10.30pm on the night of the shooting, the court heard CCTV footage shows Fitzgerald getting out of a taxi and into the Avensis, which is then driven away and is burned out in a laneway near the Willow's Pub in Finglas. Mr Kennedy said the defendant was involved in the purchase and storage of the cars and this was corroborated by CCTV and phone evidence. The defendant was arrested on December 17 that year and exercised his right to silence during the course of ten interviews. Det Sgt McDermott confirmed that the shooting was carried out by the crime group, who are based in Ballyfermot and are involved in the sale, supply and distribution of drugs both nationally and internationally. The group are also involved in serious firearm activity up to and including murder, the court heard. The Det Sgt also agreed with Mr Kennedy that Fitzgerald is known as 'Mr Fishy' and has a partner and four children. He said the defendant has 72 previous convictions, including aggravated burglary, false imprisonment, assault causing harm, theft, violent disorder and numerous road traffic offences. Det Sgt McDermott said Fitzgerald was sentenced to seven and a half years imprisonment in February this year in relation to the aggravated burglary, which took place in August 2023. Fitzgerald was on bail for this offence when the aggravated burglary occurred. Mr Kennedy told the court that the maximum sentence for an offence of this type is 15 years. Bernard Condon SC, representing Fitzgerald, said this would have been a complex case involving significant amounts of technical evidence. He said there was no doubt the plea of guilty was of value to the prosecution. He said his client had difficulties with drugs in the past and was brought up by his sister after both his parents died when he was a teenager. Counsel said Fitzgerald worked as a pot washer for a while before he 'began to drift' and his difficulties with drugs began in his late 20s. Mr Condon said Fitzgerald became a 'habitual user of cocaine' and he struggled with this addiction until 2014, when he got clean and 'life went well' for a period before he relapsed in 2020. He said Fitzgerald has been doing in prison and was attempting to turn his life around. Ireland Man jailed after hijacking a taxi driven by a 75-y... Read More Mr Condon said there was no statutory requirement for the court to make the sentence consecutive to the term Fitzgerald is already serving. However, he said if the court did plan to go down this route, he asked that it consider the issue of totality. 'I would ask the court to substantially deduct from whatever the sentence is so the final sentence would not be intolerable,' he said. Ms Justice Eileen Creedon adjourned the matter to July 7th. Fitzgerald, with an address at Glenties Park in Finglas, Dublin 11, pleaded guilty that between November 11th 2021 and November 18th 2021, both dates inclusive, in the State, with knowledge of the existence of a criminal organisation, did participate in or contribute to activities intending to facilitate the commission by the said criminal organisation of a serious offence.
Irish Times
25-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Intimidation in a Dublin suburb, and the derelict house being used as stables
On the corner of a housing estate in Cherry Orchard, west Dublin, lies a semidetached house with its front door and windows boarded up by rusted shutters. While the sight of a boarded-up home might not be unusual for the area, with a number of others dotted around nearby estates, 31 Croftwood Drive is different. The site is being used as a stables by locals and has been for years. In the front garden sits five small carts while out the back on this particular morning a small horse can be seen inside a makeshift shed with a water tank also visible. The property is owned by Dublin City Council (DCC), which has plans to build a second three-bedroomed house on the side garden. Records show the local authority bought the house in 2018 for €138,000. READ MORE The garden of a boarded-up house in the Cherry Orchard estate, Ballyfermot, Dublin 10, has been turned into stables The council says works commenced a couple of months ago to refurbish the property, but its contractor on site 'came under some intimidation'. 'We are now working with the area to try and resolve the issues so that DCC can recommence refurbishment works,' it says. 'Once works recommence we would be hopeful of having the property ready for social housing within nine months.' A resident who lives nearby nods silently when the issue of intimidation is raised. 'You can't open your mouth. If they knew I was talking [to you], my windows would be gone tonight. It's terrible. I'd say everyone would love to see houses built there,' the resident says. 'It's been sitting like that for a few years now. There doesn't seem to be anyone doing anything about it. I know they put up planning signs that two houses would be built there, but someone took them down. It would be lovely to see someone living in it.' People Before Profit councillor Hazel De Nortúin, originally from Cherry Orchard, says that at one stage towards the end of the Covid pandemic in 2022 she counted 35 houses boarded up in the area. While the councillor acknowledges the situation has improved over recent months, she says the level of vacancy 'remains high'. The council says it has 11 'void' units in the Cherry Orchard area, with 10 of these under contractors 'with various completion dates for ready to let'. A boarded-up house on Croftwood Park, Cherry Orchard, Dublin. Photograph: Alan Betson Void is the term given to when council tenants vacate houses or flats, either transferring to somewhere more suitable or leaving to purchase their own property. The death of a tenant or a marital breakdown can also result in a void unit, which can vary greatly in terms of the level of refurbishment required. Houses generally get boarded up as soon as they become vacant and remain so until the void is refurbished and ready to re-let. De Nortúin says there are a number of factors at play in Cherry Orchard as to why it appears there are more boarded-up homes there compared to other parts of the capital. She points to a higher concentration of social housing, which leads to a greater turnover of units as well as an ageing population who often want to downsize. She also references incidents of tenants having to leave suddenly due to intimidation, domestic violence or antisocial behaviour, with properties vandalised, which then take longer to refurbish. Councillor Hazel De Nortúin in front of boarded-up houses on Cherry Orchard Green. Photograph: Alan Betson 'Some people mightn't put Cherry Orchard as a preference, even though they could be from Ballyfermot,' De Nortúin says. 'They don't have the social circle to go up to an area that would be deemed to have high antisocial behaviour and there would be a little bit of a reluctance to bring children there that might be seen as a bit vulnerable.' The 2022 Census shows council housing is the dominant supplier, with 36 per cent of housing stock described as local authority rented in Cherry Orchard. It is a 'unique suburb' in Dublin 10. It was developed in the mid-20th century alongside Ballyfermot as 'a social housing project of Dublin City Council', according to the Cherry Orchard Implementation Board. 'Although Cherry Orchard Hospital opened in 1953, it has long been recognised that the area lacked the necessary supporting infrastructure to support the basic needs of the community,' it says. The board, which was set up in the wake of a Garda car being rammed by youths in stolen cars in November 2022, is a cross-government initiative to target supports for Cherry Orchard. Pobal's deprivation index describes most of the area as 'very disadvantaged'. Screengrab of footage of the 2022 incident in which a Garda car was rammed in Cherry Orchard, Dublin Funding is another factor raised by De Nortúin and others. Bringing boarded-up city council houses back into use is expected to cost almost €50,000 a unit this year, with Government contributing a maximum of €11,000 each, the local authority's budget figures published last year showed. The total cost of refurbishing the council's vacant and derelict homes this year is expected to run to €28 million, with the local authority bearing almost 80 per cent of the costs, primarily using borrowed money. Council chief executive Richard Shakespeare said last November it was 'not realistic' to continue borrowing at this level 'year on year'. The Department of Housing and Local Government says it engaged with DCC recently and advised on 'some vacant dwellings cost-savings measures'. 'Some of the high costs can be linked to energy efficiency works to the property, ie heat pumps, external wrapping, attic insulation, windows and doors and this can be claimed for under the department retrofit programme with a maximum of €48,850 available for this work,' it said. The department also said as part of the programme for government, consideration was being given to the introduction of a new voids programme with a view to further improve turnaround times of vacant social housing units. However, there is 'no set time frame in place' for the new programme. A boarded-up house on Croftwood Park, Cherry Orchard. Photograph: Alan Betson Sinn Féin councillor Daithí Doolan says funding needs to be increased and targeted towards communities who 'need those homes turned around a lot quicker'. 'If they're lying dormant in those communities it just attracts antisocial behaviour that wouldn't happen in other communities,' he says. 'There's situations where people get into the empty property, they'll damage it, it can get flooded, they'll try and take out any functioning things like the boiler inside. That's why they have to be steeled up very quickly. That's why it looks ugly and can sometimes become a site for illegal dumping. 'All that creates an image and an environment, a sense that an area is being further marginalised, and then there's more work required. It almost spirals. Initially it might have cost €40,000 to do up a property, it's then spiralling and you're playing catch-up. 'That is unfair to people on the housing list and also people who have to live on that road. Particularly if you're living in close proximity, or on either side, you can feel quite threatened by some of the behaviour that goes on there after dark.' Just over a kilometre from the stables on Croftwood Drive sit two neighbouring properties which are boarded up on Cherry Orchard Green. The houses were among a batch of social housing units delivered by the council in 2019. We were told when we moved in there will be no antisocial behaviour, no dumping, that this place will be monitored Elaine (not her real name) lives on the road with her children and recalls how a gang of youths set fire to a garden shed in one of the properties, which has been boarded up since 2022, over recent weeks. 'They [the youths] literally crawl across my wall and go in [to the empty property],' she says. 'From 4pm every day my blinds are shut because you can't even make eye contact with them. They're saying, 'What are you f****** looking at?' 'A few of the neighbours have called the guards and I was known as a rat, even though I didn't call the guards. That's been my life. This is what we've been put through for the last three years.' The council says there is 'an ongoing issue' with the property that it and the tenant are discussing and which 'needs to be resolved before refurbishment works can be carried out'. It says 'work has commenced' on the neighbouring boarded-up house. Elaine says: 'They're such lovely houses, but it's an eyesore. We were told when we moved in that you're responsible for the grass outside your house, to keep your property clean, there will be no antisocial behaviour, no dumping, that this place will be monitored. 'None of them boxes have been ticked properly. When I have family pulling up for parties I say, 'Just don't look next door'.'
Irish Times
14-05-2025
- General
- Irish Times
‘There's a spark in Fighting Words that ignites the minute you come through the door'
I was 18, an early school leaver, interviewing with Fighting Words operations manager Sara Bennett at the organisation's office on Behan Square, Dublin, when who should walk in through the front door but its co-founder Roddy Doyle ? It was February 2016. I had just come through an early school-leavers course in Ballyfermot, which focused on equipping us with the skills to enter the workforce. An internship placement was part of the programme so I contacted Fighting Words, which I had heard of through my wonderful, thoughtful instructors at Kylemore Community Training Centre. Although I still wanted to go to college, which I eventually did, it turned out to be a long road. There was a time, back in early 2015, when my friends and peers were preparing to sit their Leaving Cert exams, that I felt like I'd be lost forever. So to be there, occupying a building with Roddy Doyle, entertaining the idea that I was going to be able to work there? It didn't seem possible. I was thrilled but a little terrified when Sara offered me a six-month placement. Wayward, totally unsure of myself, I'd always wanted to write. I had never felt that I had much to offer in the way of anything else. There's a spark that exists in Fighting Words that ignites the minute you come through the front door. After more than 15 years in operation, that spark is stronger than ever. As a young person, volunteering in Fighting Words fostered in me a stronger sense of self, a stronger sense of community. As I met and worked alongside people of different ages, at different stages of life, I gained an understanding that there was no such thing as a straight line through the middle. My path was no more unique than anybody else's, but it was my story, and the stories were always what mattered most. READ MORE After my placement finished, I stayed on as a regular volunteer mentor for more than two years, before starting an undergraduate degree in English and creative writing at UCD. I graduated with my BA in 2022 and my MFA in 2023, at 26. I had come a long way in eight years. My first novel is due to be published next January. The work in this supplement is vibrant, vulnerable, at times playful and at others sombre, but always an undercurrent of hope runs through. It's the type of thing that can only come from a place where the creative mind is celebrated, where the opportunity to come together with others is offered. It can be an isolating thing, wanting to write, when the digital world draws your attention to every corner of the globe, when every scandal and tragedy sleeps beside you on your bedside locker, waiting to greet you when the sun rises. It's too easy to feel like what you want to make doesn't matter, that there is nobody out there willing to receive it. That's why it's important to bring young creative minds together, to engage with them on equal ground and provide a space for them to access themselves unfettered by the restraints of their everyday lives. My formative years, without question, were the years I spent in Fighting Words. The friends I made, the satisfaction of feeling useful, the confidence and trust given to me by the staff there I wouldn't have received anywhere else were crucial to me as an early school leaver. I see that help being given to visiting students, interns, volunteers, every time I visit. It is a space where every single participant has something to gain. At the centre of it are the stories and the poems, but it is in the people where the magic lives. Each and every one of you. Djamel White's debut novel, All Them Dogs, will be published in 2026 by John Murray Press and Riverhead Books
