Latest news with #Rathmines
BreakingNews.ie
21-07-2025
- BreakingNews.ie
Man (63) jailed for laneway sexual assault of teenage boy
A 63-year-old man has been jailed for three years for sexually assaulting a teenager in a Dublin laneway. Ronaldo Otto, aka Samantha Otto, of Grosvenor Square, Rathmines was found guilty by a Dublin Circuit Criminal Court jury last May of sexually assaulting the 18-year-old on October 26th, 2022. Advertisement Oisin Clarke BL, prosecuting, said the victim wants to remain anonymous but had no issue with the defendant being named. Reading his victim impact statement to the court, the injured party said he had just left secondary school and turned 18 at the time of the assault. 'I was forever changed after that', he said. 'I'm 21. I won't get to be 18 again… and time waits for no one. I'll never get that time back,' he added. He said he hoped he could 'get closure and move on with my life' and thanked gardaí for getting him through a 'gruelling' trial. Advertisement Garda Liam O'Meara told the court he was on duty at Rathmines Garda Station when the teenager made an allegation that he had been sexually assaulted. The injured party said he was halfway down a lane and was wearing a set of headphones, listening to music when two females passed by. One of the females stopped at the top of the lane and beckoned in his direction. He was not sure if he was being called because he had his headphones in. The injured party said Otto almost immediately 'cupped his penis' through his trousers. He asked Otto to back away. He moved away but Otto offered to give him oral sex and he declined. At this point the injured party took out his mobile phone and recorded some of the incident. Advertisement There was another attempt to touch him and he told Otto to go away, the court heard. The injured party said he was in shock. He called his father who was unable to attend, but his mother came to the garda station. CCTV Gardaí identified Otto from CCTV of the lane and a warrant was issued. Otto was arrested and detained in the usual fashion and was interviewed on two occasions. Otto said it was the injured party who carried out the assault and took a trial date. The court heard Otto has one previous for assault causing harm on April 27th, 2019 and received a suspended sentence on October 20th, 2020. Boiling water was thrown over the injured party who had rejected Otto's advances. The court heard Otto is a male transitioning into a female. Judge Codd asked if the transition was complete. Gda O'Meara told the judge the transition was 'not complete'. Advertisement Pieter LeVert BL, defending, told the court Otto accepted the verdict of the jury in full. He said his client is 63 and is originally from the Philippines and left school early to work. He said his client owned and operated a salon in the Philippines. Otto came to Ireland in 2011 to work in a salon of a girl from the Philippines. Counsel said difficulties with Otto's vocal cords caused his client to have no voice. Having stopped working as a result of that and suffering 'severe financial difficulties', Otto began 'working on the streets'. Mr LeVert said his client was a victim of a robbery and then attempted suicide. Documents A document from Ruhama, an NGO providing support to sex workers, which Otto first contacted in March 2014, was handed into court. Advertisement A document was also handed in about attendance at adult education services and a hairdressing course. Counsel said Otto is biologically male and has been transitioning 'for a number of years' having had a breast augmentation and using a hormonal patch three times a week. Otto has diabetes and there has been 'great caution because of that'. He said there were a number of letters from the National Gender Service who provide psychological services. Mr LeVert handed in two newspaper articles dated February 10th, 2025 and May 30th, 2025 written by journalist Conor Gallagher, saying there was still no formal model of how to deal with transgender prisoners and where they should be housed. Counsel said the article states these people are currently held in the E wing of Limerick Prison where they are typically held up to 23 hours a day in their cells. 'What weight has this evidence? It's a newspaper article?' remarked Judge Pauline Codd. Mr LeVert asked the court to take account of the issues around trans prisoners, that Otto was a foreign national with no family here and his client's acceptance of the jury's verdict. The judge asked what level of English Otto had and counsel said an interpreter was used for the trial however none was used for the sentencing hearing on Monday. Judge Codd noted Otto, who was 58 at the time of the offence, identified as female but is biologically male. The judge said that it created a difficulty in terms of sentencing as Otto has not yet received a gender recognition certificate. The judge noted the injured party believed the person was a woman and when Otto asked him for assistance and so the complainant approached the accused. She noted Otto had claimed to be the victim and the case was fully defended. Judge Codd said the attempt to blacken the injured party's character was unnecessary and egregious. The judge noted the victim gave a moving account of how the assault affected him - that he should be having a good time with his friends and 'feels like his life is being held up'. Judge Codd noted it was clear from his demeanour that the injured party found the court process distressing. A sexual assault of a young person, albeit on a lower scale as it occurred over the victim's clothing, can result in psychological harm, said the judge. The issue of deterrence arose, said the judge, noting there was a previous assault causing harm conviction for throwing boiling water over a person who had rejected Otto's advances. In mitigation, the judge noted Otto grew up under difficult circumstances and there was evidence in that regard from Ruhama. However she said these are cases where the victim feels 'rightly outraged by being violated' in this manner. The judge also noted there was no guilty plea to save the victim the trauma of giving evidence. Judge Codd said although there was no violence, the actions of the accused amounted to a 'gross violation of his bodily integrity'. The touching was aggravated by the 'lewd language' that was used and that the victim was a person who was much younger. The court heard Otto has not expressed remorse but accepted the verdict of the jury. The previous conviction for assault causing harm was not the same type of offence but it related to rejected advances, the judge noted. Judge Codd said Otto was now placed onto the Sexual Offenders' Register. She said the court has a letter from Ruhama, 'where they received personal support.' She said Otto was a person undergoing transition and that it is difficult 'where their gender identity does not align with their biological sex.' Judge Codd noted Otto was on a suspended sentence at the time of the offence and imposed a three-year jail term.
Irish Times
17-07-2025
- Lifestyle
- Irish Times
Look inside: Showstopper home with indoor pool and recording studio in Rathmines for €3.75m
Address : Solas, 3B Greenwich Court, Rathmines, Dublin 6 Price : €3,750,000 Agent : Sherry FitzGerald If you're looking for a high-end home in the sought-after area of Rathmines , you might have some requirements in mind, such as a spacious open-plan living space, an en suite main bedroom and ample parking. If you also happen to have a 14m heated indoor swimming pool with sauna, steam room and gym; a soundproofed recording studio; and no less than six private outdoor terraces on your wishlist, Solas at 3B Greenwhich Court may be the showstopper home for you. Solas is a deceptively large and luxurious home discreetly hidden away in a small courtyard just off Swanville Place in Rathmines, one of three adjoining properties – 3A, 3B and 3C Greenwich Court – designed by award-winning architects Coda. Number 3B is the largest of the three properties, and it's been named Solas (Irish for light) – with good reason, as you'll soon find out. Standing outside its exterior, with its white concrete walls, glass atrium and industrial-style metal slats, you'd imagine perhaps a modest-sized luxury pied-à-terre in this busy district just a short distance from Dublin's city centre. Hallway Living area Kitchen Dining area Sun terrace You certainly aren't prepared for what greets you inside: a spacious, ultra-contemporary four-bedroom home laid out over four floors, with its own private lift to whisk you to each floor. The bedrooms and main bathroom are all on the ground floor – and you'll see why when you reach the first floor, a wonderful, light-filled living space comprising beautifully designed kitchen, diningroom and livingroom with wall-to-wall floor-to-ceiling glass and sliding patio doors leading out to a large, sun-drenched private terrace. Sliding patio doors also lead from the dining area to another private terrace on the other end. The architects have maximised the light opportunities here to ensure this entire floor area is always bright and lively. READ MORE Go up to the second floor and its even brighter as you enter a large livingroom with wall-to-wall glass on three sides, and two sliding patio doors leading out to a wraparound terrace screened by privacy glass and with rooftop views over Rathmines (you can see the 'four-faced liar' from here – the Rathmines Church tower whose clock faces tell wildly varying times). The house extends to a jaw-dropping 446sq m (4,800sq ft), with the ground, first and second floors comprising 210sq m (2,260sq ft) and lower ground floor extending to 236sq m (2,540sq ft) of relaxation, wellness and entertainment space, comprising a 14m heated swimming pool, poolside lounge area, gym, sauna, steam room, shower area and kitchenette, plus a recording studio/multimedia entertainment space, completely soundproofed and encased in concrete to eliminate vibration. You'll need to bring in the recording equipment and mixing desk if you want to make your next album, but there is a sound system installed, plus a projector and screen for home cinema fun. Solas, 3B Greenwich Court, Rathmines, Dublin 6 has an A2 Ber and is on the market through Sherry FitzGerald, seeking €3.75 million. The entrance hall gives you a flavour of the luxury design within, with walnut flooring and recessed lighting. Stairs are laid in oak, and the lift is discreetly located behind slatted timber. Bedroom four looks out to the front courtyard, with floor-to-ceiling part-opaque windows offering both light and privacy; this would be a perfect home office. To the left and right of the hallway are bedrooms two and three, each a double, with walnut flooring and wall-to-wall fitted wardrobes, and each one has a glass door leading out to a small inner courtyard. The main bedroom suite is large and bright, with walnut floor, wall-to-wall fitted wardrobes and a vanity unit with backlit mirror. This bedroom shares a courtyard with bedroom three. Swimming pool Swimming pool Gym Recording studio/entertainment room The kitchen is fitted with Bulthaup wall and floor units, and an island with Gaggenau ceramic induction hob and Bulthaup extractor. There's an AEG fridge with separate freezer, plus Miele combi steam oven and conventional oven. There's also a raised breakfast counter. The large sun terrace on this floor looks down over the two ground floor inner courtyards, and is designed for al fresco entertaining, with paved patio, feature wall lights and glazed balustrades. It's not often you'll look in the basement for a show-stopper, but when you step out of the lift into the wellness and entertainment floor, you'll feel you've stumbled into a luxurious magic grotto. The 14m infinity pool is illuminated by dramatic mood lighting in soft colours. It's surrounded by Italian porcelain tiled floors and part-tiled walls, and there's a handy kitchenette for preparing poolside refreshments, plus a sauna and steam room. A home gym with beech flooring has a mirrored wall and a glazed wall looking over the pool area. After a relaxing time by the pool, your guests can repair to the entertainment room to watch a movie. Solas is within a few metres of the bustle of Rathmines Road Lower and just a short distance from Ranelagh, Portobello and the city centre.
Irish Times
14-07-2025
- Automotive
- Irish Times
EV owners have their say: `After five years of EV ownership, we will switch back to petrol or diesel'
We asked our readers to tell us about their experiences of EV charging in Ireland. In particular, how do they charge their electric vehicles in built-up areas where EV owners might only have on-street parking? The callout followed an Irish Times repor t on an EV owner in Dublin 6 who was ordered to remove an unauthorised 'charging arm' by Dublin City Council . In their responses readers cited the difficulties they face charging their electric or hybrid car if they do not have off-street parking. Others reported that public charging points are over-subscribed, and they often have to wait to access these charging points at anti-social hours to ensure they will be available. These are some of the responses: 'We have an EV in Rathmines. We cannot convert our front garden into a driveway as our terrace is a protected structure. We have a wide footpath that a charge arm won't work with, so we haven't installed one. I contacted the council regarding a Kerbo charge gulley but they rebutted my request and referred me to section 13 of the Roads Act 1993, which prohibits any activity that creates hazards or obstruction on a public road (footpaths are considered public roads). Though Dublin Local Authority launched an electric vehicle charging strategy in 2022, which recommended the development of charging hubs in the short term at various points across the city, there are very few public charging points deployed to date. I have contacted local councillors and TDs but to no avail or support. Councils all over the UK have deployed footpath solutions such as kerb adjustment, charge gulleys and high-speed chargers for houses that have electric cars but no off-street parking. As far as I can see Irish authorities have made no effort to lead the way here and develop solutions. Surely it's not beyond a council engineer to develop typical details, an accompanying risk assessment and deploy a solution in a similar format to footpath dishing for driveways. On our street there is a cast-iron rainwater gulley and a water meter in the footpath outside every house but for some reason we can't get a gulley for EV charging. We charge our car at SuperValu in Kimmage but often have to wait for ages as it is very congested with taxis that park there. I think it would make sense to have some level of differentiation between private and commercial users, eg dedicated taxi-charger stations. READ MORE John Whelan Co Dublin There is a complete lack of charging infrastructure within Ireland. I have owned an electric car for five years now and will be switching back to petrol or diesel. The entire EV scheme is doomed to failure in Ireland. There are insufficient charging ports for all small areas. In addition, all new housing has been built with 0.5 parking spots, which means that those who move there may not have the opportunity to park their car to charge it. The demand for cars will not reduce because the transport infrastructure is insufficient. Those cars will not be electric because the electric charging infrastructure is appalling. One particularly annoying circumstance is when you arrive at a charging destination where there is no fast charger, and have to wait for the person to finish and disconnect, which adds hours to a journey. Often the only available chargers are the slower 22kW ones, which means my car takes 6-8 hours to charge. Dublin resident (Name withheld but verified by The Irish Times) We installed a device at the back door of the house and we have a 'garage' entrance replacing a door. We did not seek planning for changing the door to a pull-down garage-type door. My lawyer (ie me) advised me that it was exempt. DCC has done very little on EV charging, and it continues to charge for on-street parking while charging. I have zero reliability on any public EV devices. We hire a car when travelling out of 40km radius. Greg Allen, Co Dublin I live in Dublin 8, with on-street parking and an EV. I charge my car using the public charging stations and they are so busy that we often have to charge the car at 11pm. If I'm lucky I might get a charging spot in work once a week if I get there before 7am. When you have on-street parking you are not eligible for a grant to install a home charger, which seems like a real policy gap. Some people near us have installed chargers and use a mat to run the cable over the pavement when charging, which I think is entirely reasonable but which some neighbours complain about. It's not easy to charge an EV in a city location. Ironically, EVs are really well suited to city driving. I cycle where I can, but a car is handy for groceries or for getting the kids to soccer practice on time after work. Aisling Kelly Co Dublin [ Germany might have solved Ireland's urban EV charging problem Opens in new window ] My wife and I each have plug-in hybrid cars but often find that the latest ESB high-power chargers are out of service. This week alone I found the chargers at Carnmore and Charlestown were out of service. When I call the ESB E-cars helpline I am made to wait ages to get through to a human, before being told that they can't help me. Even worse, sometimes the helpline number on the charger is out of date. Dermott Crombie Co Galway
Irish Times
21-06-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Rathmines locals protest over An Post move to sell ‘cultural icon' later this year
Protesters gathered outside Rathmines post office on Saturday morning in a demonstration against its relocation and planned sale of the building. The protest came after An Post this week confirmed its plans to move the Rathmines branch by September, paving the way for the sale of one of the most prominent buildings in the south Dublin suburb. Labour leader and local TD Ivana Bacik organised Saturday's demonstration, alongside local councillors Fiona Connelly and Dermot Lacey. Speaking at the protest, she said the building should be kept 'in community usage', adding that 'our priority is to keep the postal service in the retail hall'. Labour leader Ivana Bacik at the protest in Rathmines on Saturday. Photograph: Ella Sloane The imposing 1934 art deco building will be sold with two other Dublin post offices – Phibsborough and Tallaght – as well as a further three across the State, as part of the 'transformation of the national post office network,' An Post said previously. READ MORE At present, 95 per cent of the country's post offices are already contracted out to independent business owners, who often run post office services as part of a local shop. It is understood the Rathmines post office will move to a Centra store in the locality. Ms Bacik described the demonstration as 'a last-ditch appeal' to Minister for Communications Patrick O'Donovan and Minister for Expenditure Jack Chambers to not sign off on the property's divestment. 'The post office is a very well loved, much-used building. This is very much from the heart.' Ms Connelly stressed the importance of public buildings such as the post office 'as a community asset and a community resource'. Cllr Fiona Connelly at the protest. Photograph: Ella Sloane 'It's really sad to see a resource like the post office, that's in such demand and so heavily used, closing.' Enid O'Dowd, a local and regular user of the postal service, said the decision to sell the building was 'just ridiculous', expressing concern at the pressure the branch's relocation would place on the post office in Ranelagh. Speaking of the branch's speculated move to a nearby Centra, she said the shop 'is going to be a very crushed place with queues spilling out on to the pavement'. 'What's going to happen is people are going to start using the one in Ranelagh but that isn't big enough for the demand. They've only two cashiers there.' Enid O'Dowd at the protest. Photograph: Ella Sloane Cliona Buckley, who grew up on Leinster Road said: 'The last thing they [An Post] should be doing is shutting down memorable, protected, built for purpose buildings. What they should be doing is spending money cleaning up the front of it or they could have lovely potted plants or flower baskets and make it a feature.' She said the post office's planned closure and sale showed a failure by An Post 'to serve the Irish citizens'. Andrew Folan, Mary Freehill and Cliona Buckley at the protest. Photograph: Ella Sloane Another local demonstrator, Andrew Folan, said he felt 'absolutely outraged' by An Post's decision, adding that it was indicative of 'the digitalisation of our culture'. 'The analogue thing of writing letters, posting letters, distributing parcels and meeting the community while you do it is an essential part of our life. I think that the gradual shutting down of post offices is a very negative thing.' Mr Folan pointed to the need for 'a spacious building' due to demand for the service. 'This is a fantastic cultural icon, beautiful design and art deco, well built and a landmark for Rathmines. I think we should celebrate what we've got and show a bit more regard for our culture and our heritage,' he said. Former Labour councillor Mary Freehill, from Rathmines, said the recent loss of the suburb's citizen's information centre in 2022 had already taken a toll on the community. 'There isn't a place for people to come together.' 'Rathmines has very few publicly owned buildings,' said Ms Freehill, adding 'this is the only thing built by the Irish State in Rathmines. All of our other public buildings were built by the British.'
BreakingNews.ie
17-06-2025
- Entertainment
- BreakingNews.ie
Full house at Dublin cinema for debut of short films made by Gaza children
There was a full house at the Stella Cinema in Rathmines for the cinematic debut of a series of 17 short animated films made by the children of Gaza. More than 200 guests attended the special 'Gaza in Colour' screening of these films, officially opened by the Ambassador of Palestine, Dr Jilan Wahba Abdalmajid, and organised by Shauna Cullen of Jam Media, with additional support from Animation Ireland and Avalon Films. Advertisement The short animations were made possible due to the efforts of Haneen Koraz, a former teacher and now an acclaimed animation director and mentor from Gaza. Working with children based in refugee camps in Gaza, she provides animation workshops where young artists can express themselves, process trauma, and preserve their stories, and their sense of childhood. Speaking about the event, Shauna Cullen said, 'We were honoured and delighted to be able to showcase these amazing short films. When you consider the circumstances in which they were made, I am in constant amazement at what these children and Haneen Koraz have been able to achieve. "These children are using art as a means of escape and they are doing so with such creativity, humour and compassion. It is an inspiration for anyone working in animation or the creative arts. Advertisement 'It is also an accessible way for younger audiences to understand what other children are going through in these difficult times, creating space for families to speak about what is a very difficult, sensitive topic in a gentle, meaningful way. 'Our hope is this is just the beginning of spreading word about these animations. Already we've been contacted by several other arts and film festivals who are interested in screening some of these works. "Going beyond that we would really encourage anyone who is interested – in animation, in children's wellbeing or in what is going on in Gaza to consider following their work online. By following Animation Community for Palestine on people can check out these brilliant short films and also catch the latest additions, with a new film published each week. 'Knowing people are seeing these animations, even thousands of miles away, gives these children a sense that what they are saying is being heard and that there is an audience for their work. Advertisement "If we can keep growing the Instagram account and get more views for these fantastic animations, it will really tell them their artistic voices matter, a very important signal given the day to day realities facing these children."
