Dog argument attacker has his jail sentence suspended MacManus challenges EU president Von Der Leyen over Article 16 ‘shambles’

A TUBBERCURRY man who punched a neigbour on the side of the head in a row over two dogs, had a six-month jail sentence imposed in the district court suspended after an appeal at Monday’s Sligo Circuit Court.

The court was told that 35-year-old Michael Ward, Parklands Crescent, Tubbercurry, had pleaded guilty to a charge of assaulting Neil Holland causing him harm at Parklands Crescent on April 8 last year.

The court heard the appeal was against severity only.

Sergeant Derek Butler told the court that Garda Brannigan got a report of an incident in the estate around 3.36pm involving the defendant and the injured party.

She met Neil Holland, who was quite upset with a cut to his ear and to the back of his head.

He was not co-operative at the time as he could not recall exactly what had happened.

The injured party had been out for a walk with his dog and he saw Michael Ward with whom he had ongoing issues.

The next thing he remembered was being picked up off the ground and taken back to his house and he later made a complaint to the gardai in Tubbercurry.

The defendant was interviewed and admitted hitting Mr Holland on the head and the latter fell and hit his head off the ground and his glasses were broken.

The defendant had 29 previous convictions.

SLIGO MEP Chris MacManus challenged EU Commission president Ursula Von Der Leyen on the lack of engagement over what he described as the recent “Article 16 shambles” when the issue was discussed last week in the European Parliament in Brussels.

The Midlands Northwest MEP questioned the Commission on its “outrageous” attempt to use Article 16 of the Irish protocol. Speaking from the floor of Parliament, he said: “It is unacceptable that the Commission didn’t see the potential of destabilising the Withdrawal Agreement and the Good Friday Agreement by proposing the use of Article 16 of the Irish Protocol. We must ensure that the fiasco isn’t repeated.”

The Sinn Féin MEP also used his speaking time to call for an “openness” in communication between Brussels, Dublin and Belfast on all such matters, requesting a “structural commitment with the north of Ireland at all levels, recognising its special status as defined in the protocol.”

Mr MacManus concluded his These included criminal damage and possession of knives.

The court heard that a few weeks after this incident he cut down trees that the residents had planted in the estate with a slash hook.

He also had a conviction for theft, drunk driving, a conviction for possession of drugs and had been banned from driving for 20 years and spent four months in jail for road traffic offences.

Defence counsel Keith O’Grady, instructed by solicitor Gerry McGovern, said the majority of the defendant’s cases were district court matters and were for road traffic matters. It was a case of “bad blood” between neighbours.

And the defendant had not been in trouble from 2013 to 2020.

Mr O’Grady said the injured party had got sick of Mr Ward’s dog and went over and used expletives “Ward’s dog was barking at his dog, so he cursed Ward and that was the start of it and the injured party was drunk himself and not able to tell gardai about his injury.”

It was only when he saw the CCTV footage that he realised he had been assaulted.

In fact, he told Garda Alison Moffat that he was adamant that Michael Ward had not assaulted him.

The court heard that in a cautioned statement Michael Ward said he could hear the two dogs barking.

He said: “I told him to take his dog in and he kept shouting at me and I hit address to the parliament by urging “consistent dialogue with the Joint First Ministers” and for an EU understanding of their responsibilities to Irish citizens in the Six Counties. “There needs to be a systemic engagement with citizens, communities and their him a slap on the side of the head.” The defendant was jailed for six months when both matters came before Judge Kilrane in November. The defendant had not come to any garda attention since, he was co-operative and gave CCTV footage from his own house to the gardai regarding the incident.

Mr O’Grady said there were feuds among other Wards in Tubbercurry but he wanted to make clear that the defendant had nothing to do with these feuds.

Michael Ward agreed with his barrister Mr O’Grady that he had an appalling previous record.

The defendant had difficulties with alcohol in the past, had serious mental health conditions and took medication. He had never been in the circuit court before and was in jail for driving offences for a short time.

Ward told the court he regretted every bit of what happened – he said was “stupid of me” and “I am deeply sorry”.

He said: “I was not taking my medication at the time my brain was not in the right place and I had a few drinks that day. I accept what happened and I hit him.”

The court heard that Ward and his family had left Sligo and moved to Tubbercurry after two unsolved murders in the extended family.

They had moved to Parklands Crescent in 2015 and he was a father of seven children ranging in age from 14 to two months. elected representatives. We must find a way to ensure that EU decisions that directly affect nearly two million north of Ireland citizens – currently without their input – is addressed and resolved. There must be no democratic deficit.”

He said he was needed to look after them and he needed public transport to get in and out of town.

The defendant told the court that if the court sentenced him in a different way “you will never see me again.” He added that he stayed in the house a lot as he had trouble walking.

Ward asked the court to suspend the sentence and he “would do anything to stay with his wife and kids and from here out I will do whatever the court asks me to do.”

Judge Comerford asked how big the dogs were. The defendant said Neil Holland had a big dog and he had a small chihuahua.

But his dog was now kept out the back of the house.

“Yet within a month you are out with a slash hook cutting down trees on the estate.”

The defendant said he had given money for that incident.

He said the neighbours were not allowing his children to play in that area.

He said: “I was drunk, I handed over the slash hook and I was stupid at the time.”

Mr O’Grady read out some references for the defendant including one from Cllr O’Boyle and the head of the Sligo Traveller Support Group and a letter from the defendant’s wife.

The counsel asked the court to consider disposing of the matter other than an immediate custodial sentence while acknowledging that the learned district court judge was entitled to do

Speaking immediately after the debate, Mr MacManus said it was “deeply concerning” that the EU did not see the potential for destabilisation of the agreement.

“This cannot happen again, and you can be sure that we will be working with colleagues across parliament to ensure it never does.”

He concluded by expressing concern on how the Commission are handling the situation. “The silence we’ve witnessed from President Von Der Leyen and the Commission, despite numerous questions regarding the Article 16 debacle, is nothing short of unacceptable. It is certainly a cause for grave concern.

“During many questions from Irish MEPs and others during the course of debate, we saw notable absences and a complete silence in terms of our search for answers to the Commission’s mishandling of the crisis,” he said. what he did.

The defendant had not been on the garda radar with one exception for the past 10 years.

Sergeant Butler said there were no further incidents going forward.

The court could defer sentence to see if matters were at an end here.

The defendant was 35, had medical complaints but was well able to carry out a Community Service Order.

And the assault was at the lower end of the scale for a charge of assault causing harm.

Judge Comerford said the defendant had a bad previous record with noncompliance with court orders and driving while banned, drunk driving and theft.

The judge said the defendant needed to get out of Sligo to get away from trouble and then found himself in conflict with his neighbours in Tubbercurry and was not serving his family or himself very well.

This was a serious matter albeit at the lower end of the scale, but his neighbour has the right not to be assaulted by Mr Ward.

Luckily there was no pronounced injury. It was a one-punch assault. It was not a sustained beating and there was no weapon used.

Judge Comerford said he was suspending the district court six-month sentence for two years, on condition the defendant keep the peace and comply with medical advice and abstain from alcohol when it does not suit medication.

Litter has become a greater problem, meeting is told

Roadside litter has become a greater problem during the Covid-19 pandemic. Several councillors from the Ballymote-Tubbercurry municipal district revealed at a meeting on Monday that they have been inundated with calls from various parts of the county and have seen it for themselves too.

Cllr Martin Baker called on Sligo County Council to work with communities to address the issue.

Cllrs Gerard Mullaney and Dara Mulvey said it has been a growing problem in Lahara and Ladies’ Brae, while Cllr Michael Clarke said he is aware Lough Easkey has become a dumping ground for furniture. Director of services Emer Concannon confirmed that this is a county wide problem and hope that the national spring clean next month will go some way towards clearing a lot of existing rubbish.

She said: “The National Spring Clean is scheduled to take place from March, but numbers are to be restricted given current circumstances.”

“Registration for community groups is now open with An Taisce. Clean-up packs will be distributed to registered groups in the coming weeks. Litter pickers are also available from the environment section at a fee of €3. Correspondence will be issued to all registered groups outlining type of material which can be collected during National Spring Clean.”

Funding for eight Sligo swimming pools announced

Eight swimming pool and leisure centres in County Sligo have received allocations from Sport Ireland.

The Sligo allocations were: Avena Leisure, Ballisodare €9,930; Club Vitae, Clarion Hotel, Sligo €1,894; Raddison Hotel, Ballincar €6,874; Sligo Park Hotel €11,567; Regional Sport Complex, Sligo €11,567; Sligo Southern Hotel, Sligo €6,220; Waterpoint, Enniscrone €2,181 and Yeats Country Hotel, Rosses Point €9,930. Minister for State at the Department for Health and local Fine Gael TD Frank Feighan welcomed the allocation, saying that this is a difficult time for swimming pool operators across the country and the funding “will help to provide some financial stability to the sector in the uncertain months ahead”.