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Wales Online
26-05-2025
- Wales Online
Man set fire to his flat then sat down to watch TV, drink cider and snort cocaine
Man set fire to his flat then sat down to watch TV, drink cider and snort cocaine A police officer entered the burning building to help an elderly resident to safety Nicholas Ronan (Image: South Wales Police ) A man started a fire in his flat then sat down in the living room to watch television, drink cider and snort cocaine, a court has heard. Nicholas Ronan started the blaze knowing there were other residents in the block, including an elderly woman with serious mobility issues. Swansea Crown Court heard Ronan was shouting about "ghosts" in the property, and he threatened to attack emergency workers who approached him. The defendant's barrister said his client had been taking a "cocktail" of prescription medication, illicit substances and alcohol at the time of the incident but was now abstinent in custody and was "disgusted" at his behaviour. Georgia Donohue, prosecuting, told the court that on the morning of December 9 last year a member of the public was walking along Parry Road in Port Talbot when he heard a smashing noise and saw a dumbbell come flying out of a ground floor window of a two-storey block of flats. She said a woman then ran out of the flats shouting "He has lit a fire!" The court heard the passer-by approached the broken window and court could feel heat radiating from inside. In the room the man saw Nicholas Ronan sitting down watching TV, drinking a can of Strongbow, and snorting what appeared to be cocaine. The man shouted for Ronan to get out, and the defendant replied: "The ghosts are going to get me". For the latest court reports sign up to our crime newsletter The court heard another residents of the block had already called 999 to report the fire and to tell emergency services that there was an elderly bed-bound woman and her carer in the flats who could not get out. Article continues below Police were soon on the scene and an officer entered the block to help the woman and her carer to safety. Firefighters then arrived and put out the flat fire. The prosecutor said by now Ronan was sitting on a nearby wall holding a dumbbell and talking about "black ghosts" in the property. The defendant was approached by a firefighter and threatened to "smash" the officer if he came any closer. When a policeman approached him the defendant threw the dumbbell in his direction and threatened to rip his head off. He then told the firefighter that he started the fire with curtains. The 42-year-old defendant was arrested and in his interview said he had been cold after taking a shower so lit a fire. He then asked if the "old lady" was alright. Read about a man who torched a car in a revenge attack but was caught because of the 'distinctive' way he walks The court heard that an investigation into the fire concluded there had been three separates seats of fire - behind then front door, in the kitchen, and on a chair in the living room. The cost of making-good the fire damage to the Tai Tarian housing association property was put at £60,000. The court heard the bathroom of the defendant's flat was also found to be badly damaged but that was unconnected to the fire. Nicholas Daniel Ronan, of Parry Road, Port Talbot, had previously pleaded guilty to arson and to affray and possession of an offensive weapon - the latter charges relate to his conduct towards fire and police officers at the scene - when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has seven previous convictions for seven offences including public disorder, thefts, and a sexual offence. James McKenna, for Ronan, said given the "bizarre set of circumstances" in the case the defence felt it necessary to request a psychiatric report to assist the court. He said at the time of the incident the defendant had been taking a "cocktail" of prescription medication, illicit substances and alcohol but a period of abstinence in custody had enabled him to reflect on his behaviour and he feels "disgusted" at what he did. He added that Ronan wants to relocate to Swansea or Cardiff after serving his sentence and wants to "remove himself from a peer group which misuses drink and drugs". Judge Paul Thomas KC told Ronan he had set no fewer than three fires in his flat knowing other residents were in the building including a bed-bound woman. He said apart from the £60,000 worth of damage to the flat which others would have to pay to put right, Ronan had caused "incalculable" distress to his fellow residents. Article continues below The judge said he had read the pre-sentence report and the psychiatric reports in the case and he said he was satisfied Ronan had been fit to enter his pleas and remains fit to be sentenced. With discounts for his guilty pleas Ronan was sentenced to four years and four months in prison comprising four years for the arson and four months for the affray and weapon offences to run consecutively. He will serve two-thirds of the sentence in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.
Irish Times
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
The Irish Times view on Sinn Féin vs the Normans: a cartoonish version of history
What did the Normans ever do for us? This small proto-nation of Viking origin in what is now northern France had a remarkable impact on medieval Europe and hence on the world we now live in. At one point Normans held sway over territories from the Mediterranean to the North Sea. The most famous of them, in the English-speaking world at least, was William, Duke of Normandy, better known as William the Conqueror, the 1,000th anniversary of whose birth falls in 2027. To coincide with the occasion, authorities in modern Normandy have initiated an international event, with participation from France, the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Channel Islands, Italy, Norway and Denmark. The Normans reshaped the political order in Sicily and southern Italy, contributed to the emergence of modern France, ended Anglo-Saxon rule in England and, from the 12th century onward, became a powerful force in Gaelic Ireland. The State's involvement in the commemoration has aroused the ire of Sinn Féin's spokesman on Gaeilge, Gaeltacht and Arts, Aengus Ó Snodaigh, who deems it 'offensive' due to the connection with William, and by extension with the Norman invasion of Ireland which took place a century after the battle of Hastings. READ MORE This seems hard on William, who never showed any interest in Ireland. But it appears that in the eyes of Sinn Féin he is to be blamed for Strongbow, the Statutes of Kilkenny, Cromwell, the Penal Laws, the Famine and last year's 5-0 thrashing of the Republic of Ireland at Wembley. Such a historical nonsense would be laughable were it not for the fact that it trades in the same chauvinistic victimology that is driving the rise of the extreme right across Europe. Sinn Féin is usually keen to present itself as a modern, progressive and tolerant political movement. But occasionally the mask slips to reveal a pinched and narrow ethnonationalism that denies the complexity of the past and clings to a cartoonish version of history. It is time for the party to decide which version of itself it prefers.
The Guardian
21-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
European ‘year of the Normans' reopens debate over Irish identity
Nine centuries after the Normans clanked ashore with swords and armour, Ireland is still wrestling with the question: what did they ever do for us? A decision by the government this week to join a European cultural initiative called 2027 European year of the Normans has reopened a debate that goes to the core of Irish identity. On the one hand, say historians, they built castles and cathedrals and enriched culture and literature; on the other, they dispossessed the native Gaels and paved the way to invasion and occupation. Sinn Féin, the main opposition party, said the commemoration was offensive because it would honour William the Conqueror, England's first Norman king, and the subjugation inflicted by his successors. 'What will they think of next: a festival of Cromwell? A Famine Queen jubilee?' said the party's culture spokesperson, Aengus Ó Snodaigh, referencing Oliver Cromwell's bloody 17th-century conquests and Queen Victoria's reign during the 1840s famine. 'We Irish know well enough the legacy of William's successors invading and subjugating Ireland in the name of his English crown, with Strongbow ushering in the 900 years of occupation, with the north still under the descendants of William the Conqueror's crown.' Strongbow was the nickname of Richard de Clare, the second Earl of Pembroke, who landed with an Anglo-Norman military force in 1170 and unleashed historical forces that in the 20th century partitioned the island and left Northern Ireland in the UK. However, the Normans also intermarried with Gaels, bequeathed family names such as Burke, Griffith, FitzGerald, Lynch and Walsh, and became, in a celebrated phrase, 'more Irish than the Irish themselves'. The heritage minister, James Browne, who on Tuesday obtained cabinet approval for participation in the trans-European initiative, said Sinn Féin was missing the point. Ireland's lands, laws, monuments and built environment bore Norman heritage, and participation in the initiative would recognise that history while boosting tourism, he said. 'The year of the Normans is being led by our neighbours in Normandy, France, and it is an important and essential collaboration and commemoration – any distortion of this work is really disappointing and careless,' said Browne – a Norman name. 'So let's ask: is Sinn Féin's position that they will boycott all events related to the year of the Normans?' In addition to Ireland, the Normandy regional council has invited Britain, southern Italy, Norway and other countries and regions with Norman heritage to take part in the commemoration, which coincides with the millennium anniversary of William the Conqueror's birth. Ó Snodaigh said: 'Marking the birth of a future English king is not for us, even if it was 1,000 years ago. Rather, we should always be remembering those great figures of Ireland's past who actually lived here and contributed positively to our island story.' The row has prompted comparisons to the scene in Monty Python's Life of Brian when Judeans debate the benefits of Roman occupation. Jane Ohlmeyer, a Trinity College Dublin historian who specialises in early modern Irish and British history, said the Norman invasion profoundly shaped the history of Ireland, especially in the south-east. 'Like it or not, the past is no longer in the past, it is in the present. It is critical that we use opportunities like this one to better understand the nature of the conquest and to reflect on its legacies,' she said.
Irish Examiner
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Irish Examiner
Plans to commemorate William the Conqueror 'a step too far', says Sinn Féin TD
Fianna Fáil has been blasted by Sinn Féin over what it described as an 'offensive' plan to commemorate William the Conqueror. Housing minister James Browne on Tuesday announced plans to engage with a trans-European cultural initiative known as '2027 The Year of the Normans'. The year-long commemoration in 2027 aims to celebrate "a shared history that has shaped the island of Ireland and Europe". Mr Browne said Ireland's Norman heritage is shared across the island, both north and south, and in the UK and wider Europe. 'From their arrival in Wexford in the late 12th century, the Normans left their mark in monumental ways across our urban and rural landscapes, building towns and castles, abbeys and cathedrals that stand to this day,' Mr Browne said. 'Through our engagement with this initiative, we will build and strengthen links with the Normandy region and further afield, and grow our wonderful tourism offering here. As we work with stakeholders, we are confident that this initiative will have a lasting legacy, delivering concrete achievements with economic and social benefits, and all carried out in a respectful, sensitive manner as all historical commemorations must be. However, Sinn Féin TD Aengus Ó Snodaigh has lambasted the proposal, comparing it to a controversial Fine Gael proposal to commemorate the Royal Irish Constabulary, the police force when Ireland was occupied by the UK until independence, and of which the notorious Black and Tans were part. The Fine Gael proposal had a significantly negative effect on the party's 2020 general election campaign. 'Only a short time has passed since Fine Gael tried to commemorate the Black and Tans, and now Fianna Fáil is trying to go further by dedicating an entire year in celebration of 1,000 years since the birth of William the Conqueror,' Mr Ó Snodaigh said. William the Conqueror was the first Norman king of England, ruling from 1066 until his death in 1087. The Normans arrived in Ireland less than a century later, conquering large parts of the country. Mr Ó Snodaigh said Ireland knows 'well enough the legacy of William's successors invading and subjugating Ireland in the name of his English crown, with Strongbow ushering in the 900 years of occupation, with the North still under the descendents of William the Conqueror's Crown'. What will they think of next: A Festival of Cromwell? A Famine Queen Jubilee? He said Ireland should acknowledge, protect, and take pride in the 'rich architectural, cultural, and literary heritage that stands testament to Anglo-Norman Ireland'. 'We should make the most of Ireland's Norman heritage to boost tourism, to create jobs, to support communities, and reinforce links with families tracing their Norman Irish roots and with other places who share a Norman heritage, but celebrating England's William the Conqueror, however, is a step too far.' he said Read More Cobh to mark 200th anniversary of settler scheme that saw 2,000 leave for Canada
Daily Mail
19-05-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE 'We are heading towards a point where someone is going to be killed inside a stadium in Scotland'
Almost four years ago, in the summer of 2021, a sea of broken glass, drugs, and boozed-up fans provided a chaotic backdrop to the final of the European Championships at Wembley. Bedlam had broken out around the stadium in the hours prior to kick-off in the showpiece match between England and Italy. With unprecedented levels of disorder, it would eventually rank as one of the most shameful episodes in the history of British football. One of the enduring images, no matter how much we might wish to erase it from memory, was that of a fan snorting lines of cocaine before sticking a firework up his backside. When the individual was later tracked down and interviewed by a tabloid newspaper, he claimed to have no regrets. He explained how he had drunk at least 20 cans of Strongbow and 'banged a load of powder' - three grams of cocaine - before sneaking into Wembley to watch the final. The levels of disorder witnessed on that afternoon in July 2021 became a watershed moment for the football authorities in England. Led by Baroness Louise Casey, a review was carried out which found that fatalities had only been narrowly avoided - a 'near-miss' - in some cases. The Casey Review went on to make a series of recommendations to the football authorities with a view to mitigating the risk of any repeat episodes in future. In the context of Scottish football, we don't have anything as big as Wembley. We don't have crowds of over 100,000 rioting outside a stadium and trying to force entry. But, just as the Euros Final was a line in the sand for the authorities in England, the same should apply in Scotland and the sight of Jack MacKenzie being wheeled off the pitch with his head bandaged. The Aberdeen defender suffered a serious facial injury at Tannadice on Saturday after being hit by a broken chair which was thrown by one of the club's own supporters. It was the latest in a long line of shameful episodes to have tarnished Scottish football recent weeks and months, but by far and away the most serious. Just a couple of weeks ago, Partick Thistle announced that four young fans had suffered injuries as a result of a pyro display in a play-off match against Ayr United. Prior to that match, the streets around Somerset Park had witnessed ugly clashes between rival fans. In a Scottish Cup semi-final against Celtic last month, a St Johnstone supporter suffered an epileptic fit as a result of a similar pyro display at Hampden. A recent Old Firm match at Ibrox saw Celtic goalkeeper Viljami Sinisalo targeted with a glass bottle and other missiles. On Saturday afternoon, Celtic fans brazenly ignored requests to avoid congregating around the city centre to celebrate winning the league. The streets around the Trongate and Merchant City areas became a sea of selfish drunken morons whose behaviour forced the closure of many local businesses for the day. Looking through some of the footage on social media, countless clips were shared of sectarian and pro-IRA chanting. The football authorities in Scotland are experts when it comes to washing their hands of this stuff. They will bury their heads in the sand and claim it's not their problem. But what happened to Jack MacKenzie at the weekend felt like a new low. A new depth had been plumbed amid rising levels of disorder throughout the Scottish game. There will come a time when the Scottish Government will throw the book at football in this country and, collectively, the game won't have a leg to stand on. Getting ahead of the ball and showing a willingness to shape their own version of strict liability would be a wise place to start. Nobody actively wants strict liability, but nor should anyone be prepared to sit back and accept the current status quo. The current approach clearly does not work. It is not longer good enough for the SPFL, the clubs and the SFA to sit back and do nothing. Inaction is now a part of the problem. A prominent supporters' group in Scottish football believes it could now be only a matter of time before someone suffers a fatality as a result of fan violence and disorder. 'Nobody should ever go to a football match and not make it home,' said Alastair Blair, Director of Operations at the Scottish Football Supporters' Association. 'Nobody should fear for their life at a game of football. 'But the way it's going just now, it's not difficult to envisage someone being fatally injured either from a pyro or a glass bottle being thrown. 'We are heading towards a point where someone is going to be killed inside a stadium in Scotland. 'Whilst we accept that fans' views differ on various subjects, we strive to bring consensus and present a unified front, asking difficult questions of the football authorities, politicians and the media where we believe it is important to do so. 'Underpinning everything we do is our firm belief that all fans have the right to attend any match in safety and free from intimidation and danger.' And that's the nub of it right there. Most supporters who attend football matches are right-minded people who behave and enjoy themselves for 90 minutes. Safeguarding players who are ultimately doing their job, as well as those watching from the stands, is an issue which can't be ignored any longer. This is real and it's a problem which isn't going away any time soon. Indeed, if anything, levels of fan disorder have only grown in recent years since the pandemic. A growing sub-culture of younger supporters are now choosing cocaine - rather than alcohol - as their substance of choice on matchdays. Mail Sport has been told of group chats on WhatsApp being used to organise drop-offs and deliveries of the drug outside stadiums. As football emerged from the pandemic in 2022, Geoff Pearson, a senior lecturer in criminal law at Manchester University warned of what was coming. 'There's a subculture who go to football, mainly lads and anything from teenagers through to 60-odd, who go for a transgressive experience,' said Pearson. 'Watching the football is only one element of what is important to the day. 'Getting absolutely blottoed in whatever way, having a sing-song, hanging around with your mates, expressing your identity and coming back with a bunch of stories that will get you through the working week is what it's about.' Those words feel every bit as true now as they did three years ago, prevalent in much of the disorder we have seen in Scottish football this season. Mail Sport can reveal that at least seven clubs in the Scottish Premiership this season have been made aware of concerns about drug misuse inside their stadiums and, more specifically, in toilet cubicles. There have even been some reports of fans claiming to have witnessed the drug being taken openly on the terraces rather than in toilets. Dr Martha Newson conducts research into social cohesion and groups who share strong identities. In 2021, she ran a study into cocaine use among football fans and found a higher concentration than in the general population (6.2 per cent compared with, according to the Office for National Statistics, 2.6 per cent of the general population). More strikingly, 30 per cent of those surveyed said they had seen the drug being taken at football matches. Academics have yet to fully establish the extent to which cocaine is linked to fan violence and disorder. But it would be extremely naïve to believe that the increased use of the drug has no effect. One source told Mail Sport: 'I would estimate somewhere between 50 to 75 per cent of these Ultras groups are coked-up at most matches.' Long gone are the days when cocaine was the preserve or rich, middle-class types working in the city. It is now more affordable and accessible than ever. Among some football fans, cocaine has become their fuel on match-days. Where the effects of alcohol generally wear off over 90 minutes, fans can continue snorting lines of cocaine to sustain their high throughout a match. The effects are becoming more prevalent in stadiums throughout Scotland. It is lad culture on steroids. 'In our meetings with the football authorities, pyro and cocaine have become increasingly common topics of discussion,' said SFSA chief Blair. 'There's no point pretending these things aren't serious problems in our game, because they are. 'We have done research on this and the majority of fans we've spoken to don't like pyro and don't want it. It's illegal and dangerous. 'I think the broadcast media don't help the issue. They are always quick to show the pyro displays on TV. It's almost like it becomes glamourised and promoted. 'Over the past few years, we've had more and more people contacting us saying they don't want to take their kids to a match because they don't feel it's safe. 'I even heard a story recently about a girl's game at grassroots level where one of the mums let off a pyro at the side of the pitch.'
