Latest news with #Lawlor
Business Insider
27-05-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
Ord Minnett Keeps Their Buy Rating on Duratec Limited (DUR)
Ord Minnett analyst John Lawlor, CFA maintained a Buy rating on Duratec Limited (DUR – Research Report) today and set a price target of A$1.60. The company's shares closed yesterday at A$1.45. Confident Investing Starts Here: Easily unpack a company's performance with TipRanks' new KPI Data for smart investment decisions Receive undervalued, market resilient stocks right to your inbox with TipRanks' Smart Value Newsletter According to TipRanks, Lawlor, CFA is a 2-star analyst with an average return of 0.1% and a 40.00% success rate. The word on The Street in general, suggests a Strong Buy analyst consensus rating for Duratec Limited with a A$1.85 average price target, which is a 27.59% upside from current levels. In a report released yesterday, Shaw and Partners also maintained a Buy rating on the stock with a A$1.90 price target. The company has a one-year high of A$1.78 and a one-year low of A$1.02. Currently, Duratec Limited has an average volume of 369.8K.
Dublin Live
25-05-2025
- Dublin Live
Notorious hitman was 'master of disguise' who dressed as woman to evade Gardai
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info Evil hitman Robbie Lawlor used to dress up as a woman so he could dodge the Gardaí, we can reveal. He would go around his native Coolock, North Dublin, wearing a frock, make-up and jewellery so people wouldn't recognise him. A Garda source said: "Robbie Lawlor became the master of disguise on and off for years before he died. "His family and friends used to joke about it that he liked nothing more than dressing up as a woman so he could move around Dublin without anyone recognising him. We only became aware of it very late on in his life when one of her guys spotted him all dolled up in a dress. "We used to call him Roberta for the laugh but Lawlor, who had no sense of humour, didn't see the funny side." The notorious criminal is believed to have killed at least 12 people before he was executed himself five years ago in April, 2020, in Ardoyne, North Belfast. Lawlor, 35, paid the price for the murder of Drogheda teenager Keane Mulready-Woods, 17, a killing that sent shockwaves across the country. Lawlor organised to have the youngster abducted and then personally murdered him at a house in the town. (Image: PA) Keane's body was then dismembered and body parts were deliberately dumped in Drogheda, Coolock and Drumconrath in Dublin. The sheer horror of what Lawlor and his associates did to a child caused deep anger and distress in the teen's local community. The killing was carried out over the Drogheda drugs feud that saw Lawlor side with a gang led by two local brothers against the rival gang of Travellers to control the lucrative drugs trade in the north-east. He blamed the leaders of the Travellers, including his arch enemy, the late Cornelius Price, for the shooting dead of his brother-in-law Richie Carberry, in Bettystown, Co Meath, a few months previously. But the Mulready-Woods murder was a hit too far and the Travellers paid to have Lawlor killed while collecting a drug debt. The two brothers had to flee Drogheda following the murder of Mulready-Woods after death threats were issued against them, and they haven't been back since. One is now believed to be in Dubai, while the other is said to be flipping between Turkey and Thailand. No international arrest warrants have been issued for either of them yet. The Garda source added: "Robbie Lawlor was a psycho and was responsible for the deaths of a lot of people. Since he left this world Coolock has been a far safer place. For such a hard man it is amusing that he used to avoid detection by dressing up in drag." Join our Dublin Live breaking news service on WhatsApp. Click this link to receive your daily dose of Dublin Live content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. For all the latest news from Dublin and surrounding areas visit our homepage.
Irish Independent
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
Labour's George Lawlor on how stand-up comedy and opera help him balance the stresses of political life
As well as stand-up comedy, he's also an outstanding operatic and musical performer — and was in good voice last week when he spoke to the Sunday Independent. Brendan Howlin's successor in Wexford reeled off a host of funny stories, including one about the time a character he was playing had to ask who he needed to sleep with in order to make it on Broadway. In response, three nuns, in full regalia, got up in the front row and walked out. 'People laughed and clapped — they thought it was all part of the show,' he said. A comedian and tenor-baritone, Lawlor (56), has regularly trod the boards of the Opera House, while also serving as mayor of Wexford five times and being a member of Wexford County Council for 15 years. Last year, he was in The Phantom of the Opera before his election as a TD, and has played Daryl Van Horne — 'Jack Nicholson's character' — in The Witches of Eastwick, among scores of other productions. He began performing in public in 1980 in the boys' choir in Wexford. 'We now have the National Opera House [in Wexford] and we're very proud of it,' he said. 'I find participation is great for mental health, and for the stress and concerns of day-to-day politics. As a local councillor and parliamentary assistant to Brendan Howlin, I was run off my feet. Urban councillors have a huge workload, but don't have any staff to support them.' Now the chair of the Dáil committee on the Traveller community, and sometimes in the House until midnight, he says he misses the 'roar of the greasepaint and smell of the crowd' (a nod to the musical of the same name). He says it is still a performance in the chamber — 'where my constituency colleague Verona Murphy wields the baton'. Lawlor jokes it will be the voters who decide when he goes back to the theatre, saying: 'I will go back to it after this stage. Any form of music or am-dram [amateur drama] is a great winter pastime. Phantom did €200,000 worth of business and was booked out two months in advance.' The Labour TD is also PR and marketing chair for the Fleadh, which marks its second year in Wexford in August, having drawn 650,000 visitors to the town last year. He can sing from Les Mis or Jekyll & Hyde at the drop of a hat and believes his involvement with musicals and opera has helped to propel him on to the national stage. 'I've long been part of the Wexford Light Opera Society, one of the most successful on the island, and sadly was not able to take part in this year's production of Young Frankenstein.' He loves singers Kiri Te Kanawa and Marilyn Horne and adores the Three Tenors — but the best voice of all, he believes, belonged to Swedish tenor Jussi Bjorling, the choice of many cognoscenti. 'As to sopranos, Maria Callas will never be surpassed.' He's thinking he might squeeze something in with the Oireachtas Drama Society, although he has yet to join. It's currently rehearsing a stage version of Ulysses to mark Bloomsday next month.
Wales Online
23-05-2025
- Sport
- Wales Online
Cardiff City face battle to keep hold of rising talent as top clubs show interest
Cardiff City face battle to keep hold of rising talent as top clubs show interest The Bluebirds player is wanted by a number of clubs and is also drawing eyes on the international scene Dylan Lawlor of Cardiff City (Image: Huw Evans Picture Agency ) Cardiff City are braced for a battle to keep hold of prized academy asset Dylan Lawlor this summer. The Bluebirds defender has enjoyed a breakthrough campaign this year, starring for the club's under-21s and earning huge praise for his performance against a vaunted Aston Villa frontline including Marcus Rashford, Ollie Watkins and Marco Asensio in the FA Cup. There's also a strong argument to say he was the best player in a blue shirt when he came on against Norwich City on the final day of the season. And his form and performances have not gone unnoticed. Cardiff sources say a European club have shown real interest in the 19-year-old, while a major Premier League outfit and a top Scottish club have also enquired about the player. Join the Cardiff City breaking news and top stories WhatsApp community The teenager, who has captained Wales at age-grade level, is understood to be a sought-after talent owing to not only his defensive ability, but the class and composure he shows in possession which is an asset all top clubs now want from their centre-backs. Cardiff believe Lawlor is one of the best defensive talents they've had in their academy for decades, drawing comparisons with the likes of Danny Gabbidon from those in the know. Indeed, even some first-team players expect him to play a big part next season if Cardiff manage to keep hold of him. Article continues below Were it not for such a disastrous season for Cardiff's first team, the player would likely have had far more senior appearances to his name than the two he already has. Lawlor does have a contract until 2026, however that potentially leaves Cardiff in something of a vulnerable position. If the teenager doesn't sign a new deal, they risk losing him for only compensation money next year. Lawlor is not only sought after on the club scene, but internationally, too. The ball-playing centre-back has a big admirer in the form of Craig Bellamy, who has selected him as one of five Cardiff youngsters for the warm-weather training camp out in Spain over this past week. However, Wales also appear to have a job to keep Lawlor on their hands, with the Republic of Ireland also having sought assurances over his heritage. Indeed, it is understood Lawlor does qualify for the Emerald Isle through Irish heritage. While Bellamy will doubtless have all his focus on the upcoming World Cup qualifying campaign, there is clearly shift towards the head coach wanting to bring through new talent as is evidenced by the sheer number of youngsters called up to this training camp. Whether any of them get a cap in the coming games will be an intriguing sub-plot to keep an eye on. It's been a long and arduous campaign for many of Wales' senior stars and whether they will all be involved in the Liechtenstein game on June 6, with the Belgium encounter just three days later, or whether Bellamy will potentially use that first match at Cardiff City Stadium to cap a few youngsters off the bench remains to be seen. Article continues below Indeed, just this week it was reported that Manchester United striker, and fellow Bluebirds academy graduate, Gabriele Biancheri has been invited to the Canadian national team's next camp, with the teenager also eligible for Italy. Sign up to our daily Cardiff City newsletter here. Cardiff will be keeping a close eye on proceedings out in Spain, with Cian Ashford, Luey Giles, Ronan Kpakio and Tanatswa Nyakuhwa joining Lawlor with the senior players on camp. While all are capped at youth level, a strong showing in Spain might just see them force their way into contention for the upcoming fixtures in a fortnight's time.
USA Today
22-05-2025
- Politics
- USA Today
Critics deride DOJ plans to drop police reform efforts as harmful political theater
Critics deride DOJ plans to drop police reform efforts as harmful political theater Show Caption Hide Caption US abandons police reform settlements with Minneapolis and Louisville The Department of Justice announced it'd abandon police reform settlements with Minneapolis and Louisville. Officials and experts blasted Justice Department plans to abandon police reform settlements as political theater that will undermine public safety and social justice efforts on America's streets while possibly setting the stage for future lawsuits against police departments nationwide. On Wednesday, the DOJ announced it would initiate dismissal of lawsuits against and consent-decree negotiations with police departments in Minneapolis and Louisville in a move decried by community activists and cheered by some policing officials. However, consent decrees applied to law enforcement have largely helped communities in which they've been implemented, said Michael Lawlor, an associate professor of criminal justice at the University of New Haven in Connecticut. 'Where these have been imposed, in almost every case the end result was better policing, less crime and fewer lawsuits against cities and towns,' said Lawlor, a former Connecticut state representative. 'The bottom line is these actually help, and not hurt, police departments.' In law enforcement, the legally binding agreements, approved by all parties, typically stem from Justice Department investigations into widespread patterns of misconduct. The signed agreements must be approved by a federal judge to take effect. The DOJ on Wednesday said it would halt lawsuits and police reform settlement negotiations initiated during President Joe Biden's administration after two incidents in 2020 that drew worldwide attention and outrage, including the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin and the killing of Breonna Taylor by police executing a no-knock warrant in Louisville. In a May 21 press release, the department said those efforts were based on what it described as erroneous associations of statistical disparities with intentional discrimination. "These sweeping consent decrees would have imposed years of micromanagement of local police departments by federal courts and expensive independent monitors, and potentially hundreds of millions of dollars of compliance costs, without a legally or factually adequate basis for doing so," the DOJ release said. The Justice Department also said it would close investigations and retract findings of wrongdoing against police departments in Phoenix; Memphis, Tennessee; Trenton, New Jersey; Mount Vernon, New York; Oklahoma City; and the Louisiana State Police. Lawlor said the city of New Haven was subject to a consent decree when he served as a state representative after a federal investigation found the city's police department had a pattern of racially profiling Latinos. 'The end result was a rebooted police department, more professionalized and with higher morale,' Lawlor said. 'Everybody's a winner — but it took a tragedy to force the issue.' He called the announcement unfortunate but not surprising given the Trump administration's record on criminal justice thus far, even down to the timing of the announcement just days before the five-year anniversary of Floyd's murder. 'I'm sure that's not a coincidence,' Lawlor said. 'As with a lot of things they're doing, it's performance art. But at the end of the day, everybody loses.' 'Everyone's fears just came true' Community leaders and activists reacted to the DOJ's plans with a mix of devastation and determination to carry on. In Memphis, it remained unclear whether the Justice Department's moves might affect a $550 million civil lawsuit filed against the city by the family of Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old FedEx employee who died after being pepper-sprayed, punched and kicked by five Memphis police officers during a traffic stop. Three of those former officers were acquitted earlier this month. "This decision is a slap in the face to the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Tyre Nichols, and to every community that has endured the trauma of police violence and the false promises of accountability," said Ben Crump, the noted civil rights attorney representing Nichols' family, in a press release. "These consent decrees and investigations were not symbolic gestures. They were lifelines for communities crying out for change, rooted in years of organizing, suffering and advocacy." Louisville Metro Councilwoman Shameka Parrish-Wright, a leader in the 2020 protests over Taylor's killing who unsuccessfully challenged Greenberg for the mayor's seat in 2022, expressed disappointment. 'For me, everyone's fears just came true,' she told The Courier Journal in Louisville. '… The work will continue in other forms. The people of Louisville deserve accountability and transparency on every level.' In a statement, U.S. Rep. Morgan McGarvey said he was "appalled and deeply disappointed by the Trump administration's decision to abandon Louisville's consent decree and undermine years of hard work by our community, law enforcement, and city officials." Chanelle Helm, an organizer for Black Lives Matter Louisville, said instituting systemic change is never easy. "Most of us never had faith that law enforcement at any level in Louisville, in Kentucky, in the U.S. was going to see justice and do right by Black folks," Helm said. "Largely, we always know that civil rights were never applied to us, and we would always have to fight for them. In this moment, we're just hoping people who have been terrorized by LMPD know that we got each other and that we're building spaces for each other to take time for ourselves. This is not the end." Minneapolis, Louisville officials say move won't sway efforts Lawlor, of the University of New Haven, said whether with or without federal participation, local communities can still move forward on their own and adopt whatever policies they want. 'The problems have been identified,' he said. 'Communities can deal with them or not.' Both Minneapolis and Louisville have indicated they intend to do so. In Minneapolis, Mayor Jacob Frey said the city will stand by the court-ordered reforms. Crime is down, he said, and police are already rolling out new use-of-force measures, improving community engagement and ensuring their work is transparent and accountable. Frey called the timing of the announcement 'entirely predictable,' charging the Trump administration of playing politics with the issue. Minneapolis, he said, is 'serious about reform when the White House is not.' "What this shows is that all Donald Trump really cares about is political theater,' Frey said. Whether the federal judge decides to dismiss the case or not, he said, 'I can speak to what we are doing. Here is the bottom line: We're doing it anyway.' Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara echoed Frey's sentiments, saying the department has been through 'an unbelievable amount of change and trauma' in the five years since Floyd's death, as have the city's residents. 'I think they know things needed to change here,' O'Hara said. 'The men and women who remain here are deeply committed to getting this right. They are not about to turn their backs on their fellow officers or the residents of this community.' "Consent decrees improve relations between police departments and communities and build necessary trust,' said Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison. 'Dismissing them does the opposite, and doing so comes as no surprise from a president who has torn up other federal consent decrees and has encouraged police to mistreat people they are sworn to protect. This dismissal, as predictable and shameful as it is, does not erase DOJ's historic finding that Minneapolis engaged in a pattern of racially discriminatory, unlawful, and unconstitutional policing.' Ellison said the DOJ's move doesn't negate the progress made thus far, including an agreement between the city and the state's department of human rights, 'which aligns closely with the DOJ's consent decree.' 'We will continue to improve policing and community relations in Minnesota without the federal government's help," he said. Likewise, in Louisville, Mayor Craig Greenberg said the city would continue reform efforts with or without a consent decree, including hiring an independent monitor to provide oversight. While the Justice Department's action was not the outcome the city had hoped for, he said, it was nonetheless the one it had planned for. 'We as a city are committed to reform,' Greenberg said. Ed Harness, the city's inspector general, said his office was preparing to probe several 'misconduct areas' cited in the DOJ's 2023 investigation. Meanwhile, the ACLU of Kentucky said its efforts to bring about reform would continue, given what legal director Corey Shapiro called the Louisville police department's 'systemic, long-term, and ongoing problem of unconstitutional policing and lack of transparency.' 'The consent decree was an opportunity to repair some of the broken trust between LMPD and the community,' Shapiro said. While city and police officials have indicated a commitment to following through on the terms of the agreement, he called on them to 'begin the hard work of demonstrating, through transparency and accountability, that they will do what is right, even without the federal government's involvement.' Despite the Justice Department's current direction, Lawlor said, the pendulum is bound to swing back the other way. 'Whatever happens in the next few years will be paid for four or five years from now when there's a different perspective at DOJ,' he said. Contributing: Lucas Finton, USA TODAY Network
