Latest news with #PeterGallagher
Global News
4 days ago
- Automotive
- Global News
Southern Alberta students prepare for the future
See more sharing options Send this page to someone via email Share this item on Twitter Share this item via WhatsApp Share this item on Facebook Gathering at Lethbridge Polytechnic, students from across southern Alberta built wind-powered cars during a fun engineering day away from the classroom. 'The Wind Rally was really supposed to focus on core competencies in the trades,' said Peter Gallagher with the Southern Alberta Collegiate Institute. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy The aim of the day was for students to sample various roles to learn what they enjoy doing and what they don't. As explained in the video above, students found fun in accounting, building and more.
RTÉ News
28-05-2025
- RTÉ News
Investigation into loyalist murder of Peter Gallagher 'wholly inadequate'
A police investigation into the murder of a man by loyalists in Belfast in 1993 was "wholly inadequate", the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland has found. Peter Gallagher, a 44-year-old father of seven from Toomebridge in Co Antrim, was shot dead at an industrial park in west Belfast in March of that year. His family complained to the Police Ombudsman's Office about the thoroughness of the original murder investigation. Today, the ombudsman found that although 12 people should have been of interest to investigating detectives, none had been arrested. Marie Anderson said this was despite the fact that some were linked "by significant, and on occasion corroborative intelligence and other information". Mr Gallagher was shot dead by elements of the west Belfast Ulster Defence Association (UDA) based around the Shankill Road known as 'C Company'. Ms Anderson also criticised a decision to stand down surveillance on members of the gang even though at the time it had proven disruptive and the authorities knew attacks were being planned. The intelligence focus had been switched to the activities of the IRA. Within two days of surveillance being suspended, the UDA had murdered Mr Gallagher and 17-year-old Damien Walsh also in west Belfast. Ms Anderson said the decision to switch the surveillance focus ought to have been re-examined in light of the intelligence picture about the heightened risk of UDA attacks. "I am of the view that the failure to do so provided `C Company' greater opportunity to mount terrorist attacks on the nationalist community, culminating in the murders of Peter Gallagher and Damien Walsh," she said. However, the police ombudsman said she had found no intelligence, which if acted upon by police, would have prevented Mr Gallagher's murder. Neither was there any evidence that members of the security forces had provided information to loyalists to facilitate the attack. No one has ever been convicted for either murder. The ombudsman's report said the police investigation had zoned in on three principal suspects in respect of Mr Gallagher's murder. Ballistic tests revealed that a 9mm Browning pistol used to murder him had been amongst a batch smuggled into Northern Ireland from South Africa in December 1987. The police ombudsman said the investigations into the Gallagher and Walsh murders ought to have been linked and that the failure to do so had resulted in a "fragmented investigative approach" which had undermined both murder inquiries.
BreakingNews.ie
28-05-2025
- General
- BreakingNews.ie
Investigation into loyalist murder of Peter Gallagher ‘wholly inadequate'
The investigation into the murder by loyalists of a man in Belfast in 1993 was 'wholly inadequate', the North's Police Ombudsman has found. Peter Gallagher (44), a father-of-seven from Toomebridge, Co Antrim, was shot and fatally wounded by a loyalist gunman as he arrived for work at the Westlink Enterprise Centre in west Belfast shortly before 8am on March 24th. Advertisement The UFF admitted responsibility in a call to BBC. No one has been convicted in relation to the murder of Mr Gallagher. Police Ombudsman Marie Anderson outside her office in Belfast. Photo: PA Police Ombudsman Marie Anderson said her office found that there had been 12 people who should have been of interest to the murder investigation, but none were arrested. She said some of those were linked by significant, and on occasion corroborative, intelligence and other information. Advertisement She also criticised the police decision to 'cease surveillance of members of the UDA/UFF two days before the murder, given that they had received multiple intelligence and other reports indicating that the group were actively planning attacks'. It was found that surveillance of the Shankill-road based C Company of the UDA/UFF was paused on March 22nd, with resources reallocated in response to intelligence about Provisional IRA activity. Both Mr Gallagher and 17-year-old Damien Walsh were killed before surveillance resumed on March 30th. However, the Police Ombudsman probe found no intelligence that, if acted upon by police, could have prevented Mr Gallagher's murder, and neither was there any evidence that security forces provided information to paramilitaries to facilitate the attack. Advertisement Mrs Anderson found the initial police response to Mr Gallagher's murder had been appropriate and comprehensive in nature, with a pistol found near the scene and more than 50 statements obtained. However, she said it was difficult to understand why potential persons of interest were not arrested. Mrs Anderson noted that the investigation of complaints about historical matters is challenging due to the passage of time and unavailability of relevant witnesses and documentation. However, she said her investigators had 'gathered substantial evidence and other information during the course of this investigation' and said she was grateful for the co-operation of a number of former police officers who had assisted her inquiries. Advertisement 'I believe Mr Gallagher was the innocent victim of a campaign of terror mounted by loyalist paramilitaries against the nationalist community,' she said. 'The UDA/UFF alone were responsible for Mr Gallagher's murder. 'I conclude, however, that the family were failed by a wholly inadequate murder inquiry and in particular the failure to link the murder of Damien Walsh to that of their loved one.' The victims group Relatives for Justice (RFJ) welcomed the ombudsman's report. Advertisement 'We are privileged to have supported the Gallagher family in this long and challenging journey for truth and accountability,' they said. 'While the report sheds some light on the circumstances surrounding Peter's murder, it also highlights the scale and depth of state failure. 'What emerges is not closure, but a compelling argument for a full, independent, and human rights-compliant investigation, which the state has so far failed to deliver. 'That this report may be among the last to emerge under the Police Ombudsman's now-dismantled powers is a sobering thought. The Legacy Act has shut down future investigations, closed hundreds of similar cases, and sent a clear message to families: the truth will not be tolerated. Ireland Crowd backs calls for public inquiry into 1997 mur... Read More 'The Gallagher family's long campaign reflects the experience of so many across the North – families failed not just once by the violence that took their loved ones, but again and again by the state's refusal to investigate and to tell the truth. 'RFJ stands with the Gallagher family and all families who continue to fight for justice. 'This report is not the end. It must be the basis for further action which the family will now actively consider.'
BBC News
28-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
Investigation into Belfast murder of Peter Gallagher 'inadequate'
The police investigation into the loyalist murder of a man in west Belfast in 1993 was "wholly inadequate" and failed his family, the Police Ombudsman has Gallagher, a 44-year-old father of seven from Toomebridge, County Antrim, was shot by a UFF gunman while arriving for work at the Westlink Enterprise Centre shortly before 8am on 24 March Anderson said her investigation found there were a total of 12 people who should have been of interest to the murder investigation, but none were she added that her enquiries had found no intelligence that, if acted upon by police, could have prevented Mr Gallagher's murder. Mrs Anderson found that the 12 suspects were linked by "significant, and on occasion corroborative, intelligence and other information".She also criticised the police decision to cease surveillance of members of the UDA/UFF two days before the murder, despite multiple intelligence and other reports indicating the group were actively planning three days of surveillance being paused on 22 March 1993 - when police resources were reallocated in response to intelligence about IRA activity - the Shankill-based 'C Company' unit of the UDA/UFF had murdered Mr Gallagher and, in a separate attack the following day, 17-year-old Damien Walsh, the report the time surveillance of C Company members resumed on 30 March 1993, they had also attempted to murder two other people."I found no evidence that during this time police had reconsidered their decision to cease surveillance of 'C Company' members, despite the murders of Mr Gallagher and Damien Walsh, and mounting intelligence about other planned attacks," Mrs Anderson Police Ombudsman said was there no evidence that security forces provided information to paramilitaries to facilitate the attack. Mr Gallagher was hit multiple times by shots fired from an area of grass behind fencing overlooking the back of the Westlink Enterprise Centre, and backing onto the nearby dual UFF admitted responsibility and police received information indicating the attack had been carried out by members of 'C Company'.Mrs Anderson said the initial police response to Mr Gallagher's murder had been appropriate and comprehensive in nature.A bicycle suspected to have been used by the gunman was found near a footbridge across the Westlink near Roden Street.A 9mm Browning pistol wrapped in a balaclava was recovered near the scene of the attack, and scenes of crime examination recovered 10 empty cartridge cases, three bullet heads as well as soil and grass enquiries were undertaken, and vehicle checkpoints were conducted on both lanes of the Westlink the following morning. These enquiries identified a number of witnesses, and more than 50 statements were obtained from members of the public, police officers, expert witnesses and medical the day of Mr Gallagher's murder, police conducted searches of the homes of two men. A number of items were seized during one of the searches - including three balaclavas, a coat with surgical gloves in the pocket, and a plastic bag of on the items found no link to the Mrs Anderson said it was difficult to understand why - as the murder investigation progressed and intelligence and other information coalesced around three primary suspects - they had not been has been convicted over either the murder of Mr Gallagher or of Mr Walsh.
Irish Times
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
‘Reach for the stars': Organisers of astrophotography competition want public to capture the magic of the heavens
Ireland's biggest astrophotography competition is now open for entries. This year, for the first time, under-18s can enter the smartphone category, 'Night Sky in your Hand', which is open for images taken only with a smartphone of an astronomical scene and without telescopes. Other categories are: 'Out of this World' – Planetary; 'Out of this World' – Deep Sky; 'Back on Earth' – Landscape; and 'Back on Earth' – Landmark. The Reach for the Stars photography competition is organised by the school of astronomy and astrophysics at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS). READ MORE Entrants can submit up to two images, taken in Ireland between April 26th last year and June 2nd this year, per category. The deadline for entries is 5pm on June 4th. Shortlisted entrants will be announced in late June. The public are also invited to vote for their favourite to win the people's choice category. The judging panel is made up of: Alan Betson, The Irish Times; Michael McCreary, president, Irish Astronomical Society; Professor Peter Gallagher, senior professor and head of astronomy and astrophysics at DIAS; and Dr Lisa McNamee, co-founder, Space Medicine Ireland. The winning photographers in the 'Out of this World' and 'Back on Earth' categories will have their images published on the DIAS and The Irish Times websites and receive passes to three sites of the Astronomical Observatories of Ireland, a €500 voucher for photography equipment and a digital subscription to The Irish Times. The winner of the public choice category, as voted for by the public, and the winner of the 'Night Sky in your Hand' category will each get a voucher worth €250 for photography equipment and passes to the three sites of the Astronomical Observatories of Ireland. The winning and highly commended images will also be included in an exhibition at DIAS later this year. All shortlisted images will be included in an online exhibition, for the public vote, on the competition website. DIAS's Reach for the Stars competition is being run in partnership with The Irish Times and is sponsored by MKC Communications and The Astronomical Observatories of Ireland. The Irish Astronomical Society are initiative supporters. More information, including the competition guidelines and entry form, is available at
