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National News Briefs

Court dismisses appeals from IRA trio

The Court of Criminal Appeal has today dismissed three men's appeals against their convictions for membership of the IRA.

In November 2010, Gerard McGarrigle (aged 47), Desmond Donnelly (aged 59) and Jim Murphy (aged 62) were convicted of membership of an illegal organisation styling itself the Irish Republican Army, otherwise Oglaigh na hÉireann, otherwise the IRA on February 22 of the same year.

McGarrigle, of Mount Carmel Heights, Strabane, Co Tyrone, was jailed for five years by the Special Criminal Court while Donnelly, of Drumall, Lisnarick, Co Fermanagh and Murphy, of Floraville, Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh were each sentenced to three years and nine months.

All three appealed against their convictions.

Today the three Judge CCA comprised of Mr Justice Donal O’Donnell, presiding, sitting with Mr Justice George Birmingham and Mr Justice Gerard Hogan, dismissed all ground of the three men's appeals.
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Drugs pair have appeal cases dismissed

A bid by two men, who claimed they were “stitched up” by gardaí, to have their appeal against their convictions for the possession of heroin worth €43,000 heard by the Supreme Court has been dismissed by the Court of Criminal Appeal.

Aidan Finnegan (aged 31), with an address at Farranferris, Farranree, Co Cork, and Alan Morrison (aged 32), of Coultry Road, Ballymun, Dublin, had denied possession of 215 grams of heroin at a wooded area at Brooklodge Grove, Glanmire on September 5, 2008.

In 2009 they were each sentenced to 12 years imprisonment by Judge Patrick Moran, having been found guilty of the unlawful possession of drugs by a jury at Cork Circuit Criminal Court.

The pair claimed that they had only gone into the wooded area to urinate, that they had not ventured sufficiently far up the woodland path to encounter the spot where the heroin was stashed and that gardaí had "stitched them up".
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Cystic fibrosis unite 'a tribute'

A dedicated unit to treat cystic fibrosis (CF) patients has been described as a tribute to campaigners who died before it was built.

Patients will tomorrow be moved into the specialised facility, which is part of the new Nutley wing in St Vincent’s University Hospital (SVUH) in south Dublin.

The unit has 34 inpatient rooms, with ensuite facilities, an exercise facility, a computer console and TV, and a further 10 CF day-care rooms.

Philip Watt, of the Cystic Fibrosis Association of Ireland (CFAI), said it would be an emotional day and a tribute to campaigners, including Anita Slowey who died last year at the age of 24.

“This has been 12 years of campaigning and much heartache,” he said.
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Businessman jailed for sex assault

A successful Dublin businessman,who rugby tackled a woman to the ground and sexually assaulted her as she walked home at night, has today been jailed for six months.

Aviation broker Anthony Lyons (aged 53) of Griffith Avenue has also been ordered to pay €75,000 compensation to his 27-year-old victim who he attacked on October 3, 2010.

Judge Desmond Hogan said the manner in which the attack was committed puts it at the higher end of scale as it involved violence of a seriously frightening nature.

Lyons's victim was walking along a North Dublin Street in the early hours when she was dragged to the ground and sexually assaulted.

The businessman blamed his new cholesterol medication claiming he had been overcome by an irresistible urge.

All but six months of a six-year prison sentence were suspended.
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