Former Dundalk winger Kearns returns to Ireland with Glenavon

Daniel Kearns in his Dundalk days

Former Dundalk FC winger Daniel Kearns has signed with Northern Irish side Glenavon.

The 24-year-old, who was released by Carlisle last month, finalised his move to Mourneview Park at the weekend.

The Belfast native joined Dundalk in May 2010 after being released by West Ham and made 12 appearances in his first season.

In February 2011 he famously scored a hat-trick against Linfield in the Setanta Sports Cup, playing in all seven games en route to the final where the Lilywhites lost 2-0 to Shamrock Rovers.

In August 2011 he signed a three-year deal with English Championship club Peterborough Utd but despite a promising start he never really made the breakthrough and had three loans spells at York City, Rotherham United and Chesterfield before joining Carlisle last year.

Omagh accused deny having any significant assets

Liam Campbell

Two of the four men found liable in a civil action for the 1998 Omagh bombings have denied having any significant assets.

Liam Campbell and Michael Colm Murphy were questioned before the Master of the High Court Edmund Honohan yesterday by lawyers acting for relatives of the 29 people killed in the atrocity.

The relatives sought the questioning in aid of execution of a judgment they obtained in a Northern Irish Court.

The families’ lawyers are seeking details of all shares or interests in companies they may hold, savings or monies held in bank accounts, as well as details of any debts or liabilities they may have.

In what was at times a heated and testy exchanges, both men said they had no interest in several properties mainly located in Co Louth.

Mr Campbell, who said he has been unemployed for many years and last got a social welfare payment in the 1980s, said the only assets he owns are half shares, along with his wife, in the family home and a 3.5 acre plot of land adjoining their home.

Mr Murphy, who strongly denied having anything to do with either the Omagh bombing or having any involvement in the IRA, said he had no assets as his ex-wife had “cleaned me” following their divorce.

Mr Campbell of Upper Faughart, Dundalk and Mr Murphy of Lower Faughart, Dundalk, Co Louth were, along with Michael McKevitt and Seamus Daly, found responsible for the 1998 atrocity by the High Court in Belfast.

They were ordered to pay the families a total of £1.6m sterling. That judgment has been formally recognised in the Republic.

They were ordered by the High Court in June to provide sworn statements disclosing their assets and means. The victims’ families claimed the two failed to provide such statements.

Colm Murphy

Last month, their lawyers secured orders from Mr Justice Anthony Barr directing that the two be attached and brought before the High Court in Dublin to explain their alleged contempt.

Yesterday both men, who their lawyers said came in a voluntary capacity, attended for questioning before Master Honohan.

In response to questions from Andrew Robinson Bl for the families, Mr Murphy angrily rejected an assertion by counsel that he was ever a member of the IRA.

He said he was wrongly charged and convicted before the Special Criminal Court in respect of the bombing.. He said he was convicted because of “garda perjury”, and was subsequently acquitted at a retrial.

As he was charged “nobody wanted to have anything to do with me.” he said.

He lost his construction business, which had employed 60 people, because he was charged in connection with the bombing.

He accepted having previous involvement with property assets and a company, but now “I own nothing,” he said.  After his arrest everything “got f**ked up” he said.

In response to Mr Robinson’s questions, Mr Campbell denied having any interest, in the past or currently, in approximately half a dozen properties located in Athlone, Co Westmeath, Castlebar, Co Mayo, or in Co Louth or to companies.

Several of the properties it was claimed were in the ownership of people alleged to be relatives of Mr Campbell.

The court also heard of the relatives concerns the properties may have been transferred by Mr Campbell to others who now hold the properties for his beneficial interest.

Mr Campbell rejected this, and said the only properties he had any interest in were the family home and adjoining lands. 

Following their examination both men undertook to each provide a sworn statement containing a list of all their assets, such as property, worth more than €5,000, which they have an interest in, by October 23.

Source: Independent.ie

Fears pair are working as pimps targeting young women in Dundalk

Liam ‘Creepy’ Crawley’ from Blackrock

A local man and his Northern Irish partner are working as pimps targeting young women in Dundalk, according to a report in The Sunday World newspaper.

The paper claims that Liam ‘Creepy’ Crawley (65) from Blackrock and ‘Mucky’ Marty Heaney (52) from Belfast are two of Ireland’s busiest cross-border sex-for-sale merchants.

Journalist Hugh Jordan reports that parents in the area say the pair have set up business together.

“This is a partnership of perverts and it’s a very worrying development for parents of teenage girls in this area,” one worried mum told The Sunday World.

Marty Heaney

The paper claims tha Crawley likes to target youngsters – many hooked on heroin – persuading them to sell their bodies for sex, while grabbing a substantial percentage for himself in the process.

Heaney allegedly coaxes cash-strapped teens to join his ‘Surprise Surprise’ stripogram service, which according to reports is a “thinly-veiled cover for prostitution.”

Concerned parents contacted the Sunday World after spotting the pair prowling the streets of Dundalk, near to where a teenage schoolgirls’ summer reunion was taking place.

Crawley and Heaney were seen chatting to the youngsters as the girls made their way to a local hotel where the function was due to start.

Sunday World inquiries revealed that the sex creeps offered to give some of the girls a lift home when the gathering was over. Heaney even tried to obtain phone numbers from some of them.

Crawley and Heaney have also been reportedly spotted around the back streets on nights when it is known a teenage disco operates in the town.

Last week, one mum interviewed by the Sunday World said the appearance of these men on the streets was a very worrying development.

“We know about these people and as a result of what has appeared in the press already we recognised them immediately,” she said.

“I want to send out a word of warning to all parents with young girls to be on the lookout for these men.”

Read the full story here.

Source and pictures: The Sunday World

Omagh accused facing jail for alleged contempt

Liam Campbell

Two of the men found liable for the 1998 Omagh bombings in civil court proceedings face being jailed for contempt unless they comply with orders to disclose details of their assets.

Liam Campbell and Colm Murphy were directed in June by the High Court to provide sworn statements disclosing their assets and means but had failed to provide them, the court was told yesterday.

The statements had been sought by relatives of the 29 bomb victims in aid of execution of a judgment they obtained against Campbell, of Upper Faughart, Dundalk, Co Louth, and Murphy, of Lower Faughart, Dundalk.

That judgment against both Campbell and Murphy, along with Michael McKevitt and Séamus Daly, was granted by the High Court in Belfast after all four had been found responsible, in a civil action, for the 1998 atrocity.

The four were ordered to pay the relatives a total of £1.6m (€2.1m) in a judgement that had been formally recognised in the Republic. 

Arising out of Campbell’s and Murphy’s failure to furnish the statements lawyers for the relatives, in an ex-parte application, were granted orders directing that the two be attached and brought by the Garda before the High Court in Dublin to explain their alleged contempt.

Both men could face imprisonment for contempt of court if they continue to refuse to obey the original court orders.

Adams will not be prosecuted over McConville death

Gerry Adams

Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams and six other individuals who were reported to Northern Ireland’s public prosecution service by the PSNI in relation to the abduction and murder of Jean McConville will not be prosecuted.

The Louth TD presented himself at Antrim police station in April 2014 where he was arrested and held for four days before his release on 4 May.

Ms McConville, a widowed mother of ten, was abducted from her home in the Divis flats in Belfast in December 1972.

She was interrogated, shot in the back of the head and then secretly buried south of the border – becoming one of the “Disappeared” victims of the Troubles.

Her body was not found until 2003, when a storm uncovered her remains at Shelling Hill beach in north Louth, 80km from her home.

Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Pamela Atchison said: “We have given careful consideration to the evidence currently available in respect to each of the three men and four women reported and have concluded that it is insufficient to provide a reasonable prospect of obtaining a conviction against any of them for a criminal offence.”

Jean McConville with some of her 10 children prior to her abduction

The PPS said the evidence against the seven came from a number of different sources.

In some cases hearsay evidence was provided by the Boston College Belfast Project, it added.

The PPS noted that “there has already been a decision to prosecute an eighth individual, Ivor Bell, who was arrested and charged in March 2014 and is currently before the court. The decision is to prosecute Ivor Bell on charges of soliciting the murder of Jean McConville.”

Ms Atchison added that the PPS had had a number of meetings with the McConville family and had kept them up to date on all decisions about prosecutions.

She thanked the family for their engagement, and said the PPS would continue to engage with them on the prosecution of Mr Bell.

New ski slope and trampoline park planned for Dundalk

Plans have been drawn up for a 4,500sqm leisure centre on the outskirts of Dundalk which would provide the likes of a ski slope and trampoline park for the town.

The proposed development would be located at Red Cow on the Old Newry Road, close to St Brigid’s Park – home of Dowdallshill GF&AC – and cost around €7.1m to build.

The company behind the proposal are Riverstown-based Handlova Ltd, who trade as Cooley Spring Water. Run by the McSloy family, they already have close connections with a major leisure centre in Belfast called We Are Vertigo.

Europe’s largest trampoline park opened last December in the Newtownbreda Factory Estate on the Cedarhurst Road with the operators Gareth and Lorna Murphy saying at the time that they were looking at other sites in Ireland. Lorna’s family members Brian McSloy Jnr and Michael McSloy are the two directors of Handlova Ltd.

The Belfast centre offers activities for all ages, including two indoor ski slopes, climbing walls, a 100ft mobile zip line, a high wire rope course, a soft play area, a spa and two cafes.

The trampoline park includes two trampoline courts, three trampoline basketball lanes, stunt pits, climbing walls, a dodge ball court, Gladiator jousting and an open trampoline area.

Inside We Are Vertigo in Belfast

Handlova Ltd have applied to Louth County Council for outline planning permission for the leisure centre at Red Cow, which would incorporate car parking, landscaping and associated site development works, including the demolition of a non-habitable derelict cottage and outbuildings.

Plans come just three years after Innovative Leisure Systems’ plans for a €430m ski and leisure park, to be called Altitude, were rejected by An Bord Pleanala. It was to be located opposite Dundalk Stadium but would have been on a much larger scale with additional plans for the likes of a casino, cinema, bowling alley and hotel.

A separate trampoline park, Airbound, is also due to open shortly at the Northlink Retail Park on the Coes Road.

The local authority are due to decide on the matter by October 1st.

A video showcasing roughly what can be expected from the new facility, if given the go ahead, can be viewed below:

Cross border broadband project badly “mismanaged”

A cross border broadband project, which was to deliver faster speeds to Dundalk, was “mismanaged” according to Stormont MLAs.

They found that a government department was more concerned with meeting grant-making targets than property examining claims for the broadband project.

Politicians in the north found that the cross-border high-speed Bytel scheme was appallingly mismanaged and claimed the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment’s oversight was unacceptable.

Equipment was bought for €1.3 million (£943,000) using public funds when the true value was €30,000 (£21,700), the Audit Office has said. The “virtually obsolete” apparatus was never used and the department lost €2 million (£1.4 million) after the EU withdrew funding.

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said: “Instead of properly examining grant claims to ensure they were appropriate and monies used properly, DETI were more concerned with internal pressures to meet grant expenditure targets.

“The committee has concluded that this was a fundamental failure on the part of DETI to meet its responsibilities.”

Public finances are under tight scrutiny amid major reductions in departmental spending and the crisis looming over the budget.

PAC chairwoman Michaela Boyle said: “The committee also found that investigations into what went wrong with the oversight of the project were completely inadequate, unacceptably delayed and did not go nearly far enough.

“Even at this stage, there has been no investigation leading to criminal proceedings.

“The appalling mismanagement of this project led to it delivering very poor value for money.”

The Belfast IT company behind the ambitious plan, Bytel, aimed to provide faster internet connections to homes in Belfast, Craigavon, Armagh, Dundalk and Dublin.

Although ineligible for funding, €1.3 million was given for equipment that was never used in the project, the Audit Office said. It was bought by Bytel from a “related” company, the audit office said, and evidence suggests it only cost €30,000.

The project, approved in 2004, was to be part-funded by the EU, but Europe withdrew because of irregular expenditure, DETI lost €2 million of EU funding and the Republic’s Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources sacrificed €1.8 million (£1.3 million).

Ms Boyle said: “The committee finds it very hard to believe that no one within the department has faced any disciplinary action for the many serious shortcomings in this project.

“This is not the first time that this committee has found poor management has cost the government vast sums of money.

“While we have been assured that management systems have been improved, we cannot afford, in this financial climate, to lose funding in this way.

“We are calling on the department, and indeed all government and non-governmental bodies, to implement rigorous systems to ensure that this cannot happen again and that those responsible are held accountable.”

Landmark for Greenore Port

The MV Smart Tina in Greenore Port

Following the completion of an extensive port dredging project, the arrival of the largest steel ship to ever call to Greenore represents a new landmark for the port.

The cargo vessel MV Smart Tina arrived in Greenore Port from China as part of its maiden voyage. The MV Smart Tina has a dead weight tonnage of 38,900T and measures 180 metres in length.

Greenore Port completed an extensive port dredging project in May. The main aim of the project was to make the port accessible to 8-metre draft vessels at all tidal conditions. Prior to the dredging works being carried out, the port would have been unable to handle a vessel of this size. One of the most challenging aspects of the project was the deepening of the berthing area which is located in a section of the harbour with a rock bottom and strong tidal currents.

“Dredging commenced in February and by mid-May we had removed over 7000 tonnes of rock from the harbour bed,” said Niall McCarthy, General Manager of the Port.

Greenore Port was purchased by the Doyle Shipping Group in late 2014 and the port deepening project is part of the group’s strategic plan to develop facilities at the Port.

McCarthy commented that the project was an investment in the future of the port.

“There is a growing trend in the industry for larger, more efficient vessels which provide customers with economies of scale, it is important that Greenore Port can facilitate such vessels, so the arrival of a vessel the size of the MV Smart Tina is indeed a landmark for the Port,” he said.

Greenore Port’s previous largest steel ship was the MV Ourania, which had a dead weight tonnage of 27,797T.

A privately owned Irish company the Doyle Shipping Group’s portfolio includes operations in Dublin, Belfast, Cork and Foynes Ports. The company has been operating since 1886 when it was founded by DF Doyle.

Dundalk BIDS launch new ad campaign targeting rail users

Dundalk BIDS have launched a new advertising campaign targeting rail users on the main Dublin to Belfast route.

The Visit Dundalk advertisement will be postered on the Enterprise train service.

Be sure to check it out if you’re passing.

Will it attract more visitors to the area?

New 7.55am direct train from Dundalk to Dublin launching this Monday

A new direct train service from Clarke Station in Dundalk to Dublin Connolly will launch on Monday morning.

The new 7.55am train will leave from Dundalk train station, with a stop off at MacBride station in Drogheda the only stop en route to Dublin.

Irish Rail estimate that the total journey will take 63 minutes, with passengers expected to be in Connolly Station for 9.03am.

This is to compliment the existing Enterprise service, which leaves from Belfast Central and usually arrives in Dundalk around 8am. This train will still stop in Clarke Station.

This ‘additional’ train is only covering a period of time where there will be significantly reduced capacity on the usual train as the Enterprise is being replaced by a smaller train as part of the Enterprise refurbishment. Regular train goers will be familiar with the already reduced capacity on the 8am train from Dundalk.