Latest news with #Ballyjamesduff
Agriland
20-05-2025
- Science
- Agriland
Safety mechanism for vacuum tankers wins engineering award
A safety mechanism to aid elderly farmers in particular with the use of vacuum tankers has jointly won Atlantic Technological University (ATU) Undergraduate Engineering Competition 2025. 'Engineering Design & Development of an Easy-Lift Mechanism for Efficient Handling of Vacuum Hoses on Trailed & Mounted Vacuum Tankers' is the project by Killian Smith from Ballyjamesduff, Co. Cavan. The other joint winner of the award was a project by James Swift from Castlebar, Co. Mayo – 'Harnessing Hydrogen – A Study into Renewable Energy Storage Using Hydrogen' The two ATU students were named as joint overall winners of the Undergraduate Engineering Competition at the 2025 ATU Galway annual Engineering Exhibition and Competition. Their work now gains them automatic entry into Engineer Ireland's Innovative Student Engineer of the Year competition which will take place in Dublin in autumn. Safety for vacuum tankers Killian Smith from Co. Cavan, who was also awarded the Agricultural Engineering Award for his project, said: 'The prototype I developed helps operators of vacuum tankers lift heavy vacuum hoses onto the side of the tanks without risking injury. 'It's especially beneficial for elderly farmers, helping them continue working safely.' ATU Agricultural Engineering award winner Killian Smith from Ballyjamesduff, pictured with ATU head of department, Des O'Reilly, and Noel Sheridan, senior design engineer, McHale James Swift from Co. Mayo also claimed the Energy Engineering Award for his winning project. He said: 'My project aims to provide a means of storing excess renewable electricity during times of low demand using a hydrogen fuel cell system. 'The prototype I developed uses electrolysis to produce and store hydrogen, which can later be converted back into electricity through galvanic operation when needed. 'The system is entirely emissions-free, with water as the only by-product,' he said. Award The winners were selected from 100 students whose work was initially electronically displayed. After a comprehensive shortlisting and voting process, 55 projects were selected for physical display in ATU Galway's Cafe Foyer from April 28 until May 2. The students' work was carefully critiqued and evaluated by a panel of 40 external engineering professionals, from 30 sponsoring companies, during the formal competition held on campus on Wednesday, April 30. Other final year students won engineering awards in other categories such as Biomedical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering Design and Mechanical Engineering specialisation streams. Event organiser and Mechanical Engineering Department lecturer Dr. Oliver Mulryan said: 'The Engineering Expo is a flagship event that strengthens the connection between our department and industry. 'This year's showcase featured an impressive range of innovative student projects across all stages, clearly reflecting the practical skills and creativity of our students. 'We commend our students for their ingenuity, and we are deeply grateful to the mentors, judges, and sponsoring companies whose invaluable support help make this event such a success. Your continued commitment to our students and programmes is truly appreciated.' Prof. Graham Heaslip, head of School of Engineering, ATU Galway, said: 'This year's engineering exhibition was an outstanding success, highlighting the creativity, problem-solving skills, and future-ready thinking of our students. 'Each project reflected a deep understanding of real-world challenges and demonstrated the kind of innovation that defines the next generation of engineers.'
Times
13-05-2025
- Times
Clodagh Hawe ‘did not know extent of killer husband's porn addiction'
Clodagh Hawe did not know the extent of her husband's pornography addiction before he murdered her and their three sons, her sister has revealed. On the evening of August 28, 2016, the rural town of Ballyjamesduff in Co Cavan changed for ever. After months of meticulous planning, Alan Hawe, 40, killed his wife Clodagh, 39, with a hatchet and knife in their sitting room before walking upstairs to murder his sons Liam, 13, Niall, 11, and Ryan, 6, in their bedrooms. A state pathologist suggested the children had been stabbed in their Adam's apples to prevent them from screaming. Their father, a deputy school principal, then hanged himself once he was satisfied his affairs were in order. Although known to be a controlling husband, Hawe,
BreakingNews.ie
10-05-2025
- BreakingNews.ie
Clodagh Hawe's sister wants gardaí better trained to deal with murder-suicides
The sister of a Cavan teacher who was killed by her husband wants improved training for murder-suicide investigations rolled out across all garda stations. Jacqueline Connolly also said a review of the Clodagh Hawe case should be published to provide a greater awareness of the behaviours of 'family annihilators'. Advertisement Alan Hawe, a vice-principal, killed himself, his 39-year-old wife Clodagh and their sons, Liam, 13, Niall, 11, and Ryan, six, in August 2016 at their home near Ballyjamesduff. Alan and Clodagh Hawe and their three children Liam, 13, Niall, 11, and Ryan, six (Family handout/PA) Ms Connolly, who has written a memoir called Deadly Silence, said the deaths were not investigated thoroughly by gardaí and she wants this approach changed. 'He was dead, what did it matter? The 'why' wasn't accounted for in that investigation, but it mattered to us,' she told RTÉ Radio's Brendan O'Connor Show. She said a second investigation carried out by the serious crime review team, authorised by Garda Commissioner Drew Harris in 2019, highlighted what was missed in the first investigation. Advertisement This included CCTV that had not been examined, digital evidence that was overlooked, and 20 key witnesses who needed to be reinterviewed using different techniques. The hearse carrying the coffin of Clodagh Hawe at her funeral in Castlerahan, Co Cavan (PA) Ms Connolly said she has been told gardaí in training will be advised to gather evidence in murder-suicides as though it is a case that will be prosecuted, but she said she wants that rolled out to all rural garda stations because officers were not prepared to 'find Clodagh and the boys like that'. She called on Mr Harris to release the findings of the serious crime review, for which Ms Connolly has seen a summary, because she said it was important that the recommendations are seen by domestic violence institutions. 'I really feel that it would warn people and show people the signs, behaviours, patterns of what family annihilators look like.' Advertisement Ms Connolly said the review heard from an expert that analysed a letter left by Hawe differently to those involved in the initial investigation, and that the teacher's pornography 'addiction' was also revealed. Clodagh Hawe's mother Mary Coll (left) and her sister Jacqueline Connolly leaving the Department of Justice in Dublin (PA) 'His murder letter was used to diagnose depression in an inquest, whereas in the serious crime review this showed – through (Scottish forensic criminologist) Professor David Wilson – actually there was pseudo-altruistic comments in that letter. 'He came across as caring, he wanted the perception of what he was when he was dead to be he was still a good man – that had nothing to do with depression. 'He could show that the behaviours and patterns leading up to their deaths, the research that was done digitally – that wasn't shown in the first investigation – where Alan Hawe was researching up to a year before he killed them.' Advertisement She said Hawe had put a 'distance' between her and her sister, and she would 'never be able to have a conversation in the kitchen with Clodagh on my own'. Ms Connolly said all texts she sent to her older sister were forwarded on to Hawe. Recalling a tribute she wrote on her brother-in-law's Facebook profile in the immediate aftermath of the deaths, Ms Connolly said she was operating on 'autopilot' in her grief and her initial reaction was one of 'pure shock and trauma'. She said there was 'chaos' following the deaths and that no one 'said stop' to burying Hawe alongside the wife and children he had killed. Advertisement 'The day after the funeral, myself and mam went to the grave, and I will never forget how mam looked that day. 'We stood there in silence, and I thought 'what have we done?' And as I thought it, she turned around and said 'what have we done? We've buried him with them'.' She added: 'You can't align the two events, this man who you trusted for so long did such a terrible thing. 'You know something must have happened, but never in a million years would you think – especially considering the findings of the serious crime review – that so much planning went into what he did that night.'
