Latest news with #CoMonaghan
Irish Times
29-05-2025
- General
- Irish Times
Garden centre owner and another man appear in court over €5.3m drug seizure
Two men aged in their 60s have appeared in court in connection with the seizure of heroin and cocaine valued at €5.3 million. Joseph Sherry (61), of Allagesh, Smithborough, Co Monaghan, and Matthew Farrell (63), of Lisagoan, Kingscourt, Co Cavan, appeared before Judge Eirinn McKiernan at a special sitting of Navan District Court on Thursday. The men are charged with unlawful possession of drugs and possession for sale or supply at a premises at Leggagh, Castletown, Navan, last May 27th. Mr Farrell, a garden centre owner, made no reply when charged, Detective Garda Paul Cullen told the court. READ MORE Detective Garda Ben McGarry gave evidence of having charged Mr Sherry, who made no reply. Judge McKiernan said she was refusing bail due to the seriousness of the charges. She remanded both in custody to appear by video link before Trim District Court on June 3rd.
BreakingNews.ie
16-05-2025
- Politics
- BreakingNews.ie
Human remains discovered at site of previous search for Disappeared victim
Further fragments of human remains have been found at a site where investigators had carried out a search for Disappeared victim of the Troubles, Joe Lynskey. The development comes less than two months after investigators announced that remains exhumed from the cemetery site in Annyalla, Co Monaghan, were not those of Mr Lynskey. Advertisement The Independent Commission for the Location of Victims' Remains (ICLVR) said other remains have now been found after it received information about a different area of the cemetery that does not incorporate any family graves. Searches were carried out at the cemetery for Joe Lynskey, one of the IRA's Disappeared (WAVE Trauma Centre/PA) The commission stressed that the information did not directly relate to the disappearance of Mr Lynskey. However, investigators said they were keeping an 'open mind', pending the results of tests to determine whether the remains do belong to the IRA murder victim. Mr Lynskey, a former monk from Belfast who later joined the IRA, was abducted, murdered and secretly buried by members of the republican paramilitary group in 1972. Advertisement He was one of 17 people who were Disappeared by republican paramilitaries during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. The ICLVR did not become aware that Mr Lynskey was one of the Disappeared until 2010. A number of searches since then have all failed to locate his remains. The commission was set up by the UK and Irish governments during the peace process to investigate the whereabouts of the Disappeared. Thirteen have been formally found. As well as Mr Lynskey, the commission is also tasked with finding three other Disappeared victims – Co Tyrone teenager Columba McVeigh, British Army Captain Robert Nairac, and Seamus Maguire, who was in his mid-20s and from near Lurgan, Co Armagh. Advertisement The commission opened a grave in November last year after it received information related to 'suspicious' historical activity during the 1970s at a grave in Annyalla cemetery. The site of the first search at Annyalla Cemetery in Co Monaghan, where the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims Remains carried out an exhumation (Jonathan McCambridge/PA) It instigated the exhumation operation to establish whether Mr Lynskey had been secretly buried there by the IRA. In March, the commission said tests had confirmed that the remains did not belong to Mr Lynskey. It said the remains recovered from the grave also did not belong to any member of the family who own the plot. Advertisement The ICLVR further confirmed that the remains were not those of any of the three other Disappeared victims the commission continues to search for. Eamonn Henry, lead investigator at the ICLVR, announced the latest development at the Annyalla site in a statement on Friday. 'Following the recent exhumation at Annyalla Cemetery in relation to the search for Joe Lynskey, information came to the ICLVR indicating another small area of interest within the confines of the cemetery,' he said. 'This was not another family grave site. Advertisement 'I want to emphasise that this information did not relate directly to the disappearance of Joe Lynskey and so until we have a positive identification or the elimination of the remains as those of Joe Lynskey or any of the other of the Disappeared, we have to keep an open mind'. He said the State Pathologist had been notified and the remains have been taken away for technical examination. Mr Henry added: 'We know only too well that the Lynskey family have had hopes raised before only to be bitterly disappointed and so, as ever, expectations have to be managed. 'The process of identification could take some time and we will continue to offer the family what support we can'. Mr Henry renewed the appeal for information on all of the remaining Disappeared cases. 'Regardless of the outcome, this work at Annyalla shows that where we have credible information, we will act on it,' he said. 'This week also marks the 48th anniversary (15th May) of the murder and secret burial of Robert Nairac. 'We need information on his and the other outstanding cases and anyone with information can be assured that it will be treated in the strictest confidence. 'Our humanitarian work is entirely information-driven to get us to the right places where we can use the considerable technical expertise at our disposal to locate the remains of those disappeared and to return them to their loved ones for Christian burial. 'Anyone who helps with that will be doing a great service to families who have suffered so much for so long'.
BreakingNews.ie
14-05-2025
- BreakingNews.ie
Man jailed for seven years after crash which killed two teenagers
A man has been sentenced to seven years' imprisonment after pleading guilty to dangerous driving causing the deaths of two teenagers. Anthony McGinn, 61, from Drumloo, Newbliss, Co Monaghan, was sentenced on Wednesday. Advertisement Kiea McCann, 17, and Dlava Mohamed, 16, died in the crash on July 31st 2023. The girls, who were being driven to their Debs ball when they died, had been close friends since Dlava's family arrived in Clones as part of a resettlement programme for Syrians. Dlava's sister Avin was also injured in the crash. Speaking after the sentencing at Monaghan Courthouse on Wednesday, Kiea's mother Teresa McCann said: 'There is no justice in this. My child's life is gone and never coming back.' Advertisement Inspector Ann Marie Lardner said gardai support the families 'in their suffering'. 'Kiea and Dlava were looking forward to celebrating their Debs on the night of the 31st of July, 2023 – they had their entire lives and bright futures in front of them. 'They were killed in a devastating road traffic collision and never came home.' Ms Lardner said gardai stand 'united in grief' with the families following the recent death of Garda Kevin Flatley, from the roads policing unit, who was struck by a high-powered motorcycle. Advertisement She said: 'Garda Kevin Flatley went to work last Sunday, an ordinary day, he never came home. 'They are just three of the 418 killed in our roads since the start of 2023. 'An Garda Siochana and all our road safety partners continuously repeat and repeat and repeat: Speeding kills. 'Kiea and Dlava were killed because of excessive speed. Kevin was on duty detecting and preventing speeding on our roads when he was killed.' Advertisement Frankie and Teresa McCann, parents of Kiea McCann, arrive at Monaghan Circuit Criminal Court. Photo: Brian Lawless/PA. She added: 'As a society, Ireland needs to reset in our collective attitude towards road safety. As a society, we need to slow down. As a society, we need to have a conversation with those who we know drive too fast, either in excess of the speed limit or too fast for the road conditions. 'The only people who can drive slower are drivers. But everybody can influence a driver. Slow down, make our roads safer. 'Get home safe to your families every day.' During the sentencing hearing, Judge John Aylmer said he was considering the charges in relation to the two deaths and the dangerous driving causing serious bodily harm to Avin to be in the same act of driving. Advertisement In handing down the sentence, Mr Aylmer said he had to consider where the offence fell on the scale of offending by examining aggravating and mitigating circumstances. He said the aggravating circumstances of the incident were that McGinn was travelling at almost twice the speed limit in an 80km/h zone, with evidence establishing he was travelling at up to 151km/h on the stretch of road. Mr Aylmer said McGinn had also 'ignored the pleas – and somewhat angry pleas – to desist from two of the frightened young passengers', referring to Avin and another passenger – Oisin Clerkin – who sustained less serious injuries in the crash. He said the road was wet which made the speeding even more dangerous. Garda Inspector Ann Marie Lardner speaks to the media outside Monaghan Circuit Criminal Court. Photo: Brian Lawless/PA. Mr Aylmer noted McGinn had been a friend of Kiea's father at the time and had 'committed an extraordinary breach of trust' which had been placed in to drive the young people to debs. He said the 'devastating impact' of his actions was the loss of life and the life-altering injuries suffered by Avin. He said the court had heard 'harrowing victim-impact statements'. Mr Aylmer said representations for McGinn had pointed out he never had any intention to injure anyone, but the judge added he had a 'very determined' intention to drive at a 'grossly excessive speed', having a 'reckless disregard' for the potential of death or serious injury to arise. He said this put the offence at the upper end of severity, but the judge said other aggravating factors, which often appear in these cases, were not present. He said there was no question of the consumption of drugs or alcohol, or that the car was in disrepair. This resulted in a headline sentence of nine years on each count, before mitigating factors reduced the sentence. In mitigation, the judge said McGinn had no previous convictions nor any other charges pending. He said the driver was fully co-operative with the investigation to the extent that he could be given his apparently genuine 'little recollection of events' having suffered very severe injuries himself. Anthony McGinn was sentenced on Wednesday. Photo: Brian Lawless/PA. McGinn spent a number of months in a coma after the crash, the court heard. The judge said he had entered a very early plea of guilty but added that was in the face of an 'overwhelming case' brought by the prosecution, considering the entire event was captured on dashcam. He said the value of the early plea is in 'sparing the families' further trauma of a trial which would have arisen. Mr Aylmer said McGinn's injuries cannot be ignored but they provide little mitigation because 'they were self imposed'. The court heard he has lost his marriage due to circumstances arising out of the tragedy and his relationship with his children has become distant. The judge also said he had received reports that McGinn displayed appropriate victim empathy and his sense of responsibility for the deaths and the injuries suffered 'weighs heavily' on him. McGinn is also considered to present a low risk of reoffending. Mr Aylmer reduced the sentence to seven years on each count, to run concurrently from Wednesday. McGinn was also disqualified from driving for a period of 15 years.
