Limerick: Funding Shortfall Closes Mid-West Rape Crisis Centre: *UPDATED

The service users have been informed of the closure

Rape Crisis Midwest has announced the temporary closure of its services in Clare, Limerick and north Tipperary. 

The centre, based in Limerick, provides counselling and psychotherapy services to victims of rape.

They said the decision was taken because of a €120,000 funding shortfall. 

Director of Rape Crisis Midwest Miriam Duffy said the financial status of the centre was at a critical point.

She said that this was as a result of funding cutbacks and a drop in donations.

The services will be temporarily closed until the end of September in an effort to save money. 

The service users have been informed of the closure. 

The helpline on 1800 311511 will remain open. 

*Reports that women held at direct provision centres are being forced into prostitution to support themselves have been described as "shocking" by Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald.

The comments came after RTÉ reported some women living at the asylum centres had become prostitutes as they are given less than €20 a week by the State.

The justice minister has ordered a report on the situation from the Reception and Integration Agency, which is responsible for providing accommodation and services for asylum seekers while their applications are processed.

Ms Fitzgerald said people should be careful not to stigmatise asylum seekers.

“I did find and I do find those reports shocking. I certainly don’t want to see any woman in Ireland feeling that the only option for her is prostitution in order to look after her family.

“First of all, I would be very concerned that there would be any targeting of the women who are in direct provision,” she said.

“I would be concerned as well about any stereotyping that might take place in relation to those women in any media reports.

“We are talking about a vulnerable group of women and I certainly don’t want to see them further stigmatised,” the minister said.

On calls by former US president Jimmy Carter, and others, to criminalise the buying of sex, Ms Fitzgerald also said she would be bringing legislation to Cabinet in the near future.

Ms Fitzgerald said she had been watching how Scandinavian countries had handled the issue.

The justice minister also attacked claims by Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin that the next Garda commissioner would be selected under a cloud because Taoiseach Enda Kenny had refused to outlay the circumstances leading up to the sudden resignation of former commissioner Martin Callinan.

Ms Fitzgerald said she disagreed with the remarks made by Mr Martin in an Irish Examiner interview and the next commissioner would not be compromised by the events leading up to the departure of Mr Callinan from his post in March after Mr Kenny had sent a senior civil servant to the then commissioner’s house to express concern at an unfolding Garda station telephone taping controversy.

“I don’t accept what Micheál Martin has said,” Ms Fitzgerald said.

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*Dublin Rape Crisis Centre has said that it took more than 12,000 calls in 2013, the highest figure since 2009.

Releasing its annual report today, the DRRC said most cases of rape and other sex crimes reported in 2013 were carried out by somebody known to the victim.

The report revealed:

- 12,192 contacts were handled by the DRCC’s National 24-Hour Helpline last yeaer.
- 9,614 were genuine counselling contacts.
- 3,928 calls were first time contacts, representing 41% of total genuine contacts.
- 4,955 repeat contacts were received, an increase of 7% on 2012.
- 78% of callers were female and 22% of callers were male.
- 43% of calls related to adult rape, an increase of 3% compared with 2012 figures.
- 9% of calls related to adult sexual assault, an increase of 21% compared with 2012 figures.
- 53% of calls related to adult sexual violence, including rape, sexual assault, sexual harassment, and trafficking.
- 47% of calls related to childhood sexual abuse, including ritual abuse and suspected abuse.
- 72% of callers were from the Dublin areas, while 28% were from 12 other counties.
- 96% of callers were of Irish nationality, 4% of calls were of other nationalities.
- 231 victims of rape and sexual assault were accompanied by DRCC’ s trained volunteers to the Sexual Assault Treatment Unit in the Rotunda Hospital

CEO Ellen O'Malley-Dunlop says a wide range of people asked for their help.

"We have practically 50/50 callers who are victims of recent rape and sexual assault and victims of childhood sexual abuse," she said.

"We see people from 16 up to 80".

"Sometimes people come for a few sessions, but they might come back at another time when their memory is further triggered, and they may need further support," she added.

Ms O'Malley-Dunlop also said that almost a quarter of calls to the centre last year were made by men - but less than half of the male victims who came forward availed of the centre's counseling services.

Nonetheless, she says it's encouraging that men are picking up the phone.

"Men who are victims of rape and sexual assault seem to find it much more difficult to come forward,"
Ms O'Malley-Dunlop said.
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*Teenage girls are being bullied as sexting gets out of control in Irish secondary schools.

The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre says vulnerable young girls are being pressurised into sharing explicit images which can them be used in an exploitative way.

Intimate pictures sent via chat apps like Whatsapp, Viber or Snapchat are being used as a form of bullying.

The Centre classifies this as a form of "sexual violence" and a new module has been devised to tackle the problem - as part of the BodyRight programme - to help teach girls about the dangers of sexual violence.

This comes as there was a disturbing increase in the number of rapes and other sex attacks carried out last year.

Dublin: Dundon and Killeen Found Guilty Of Murdering Roy Collins

Roy Collins was shot dead in Limerick in 2009

The Special Criminal Court has found Wayne Dundon and Nathan Killeen guilty of the murder of Limerick businessman Roy Collins in the city five years ago.

Mr Collins died after being shot in the chest at the Coin Castle Amusements Arcade on 9 April, 2009.

Dundon, 35, of Lenihan Avenue and Nathan Killeen, 23, from Hyde Road, both in Limerick, had pleaded not guilty to his murder.

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Both men have been given the mandatory life sentence.

Two weeks after the two-month trial ended, the Special Criminal Court, presided over by Ms Justice Iseult O'Malley, delivered its verdict today.

The prosecution claimed that Dundon directed the murder from prison, Killeen was the getaway driver and another man, James Dillon, was the gunman.

They said the motive was vengeance for a ten-year prison sentence Dundon blamed on the Collins family, who had given evidence against him in a previous trial.

Much of the State's case was built on the testimony of five witnesses; two McCarthy brothers - cousins of Wayne Dundon - and three members of the Collins-Keogh family, whom the court heard knew both accused well.

The court dismissed the evidence of Gareth Collins as not reaching the required standard, however it accepted some of the evidence of his sister Lisa as corroborative.

It also found the forensic evidence, gunshot residue on Killeens' clothing, as compelling that he was present when the shot was fired and convicted him of murder.

It also found Dundon guilty of the murder on the evidence of convicted murderer Anthony 'Noddy' McCarthy, evidence which was corroborated by the testimony of a prison officer.

The court found no evidence that his testifying would improve his prospects of release.

The defence, however, characterised them as gang associates and supergrass witnesses whose evidence could not be relied on.

Roy Colllins' family hugged and cried after the verdict was delivered.

Steve Collins this afternoon read a victim impact statement to the court.

Breaking down in tears several times, he said his son Roy was an innocent man and a good, upstanding decent member of society.

He said he was a loving, caring and attentive son, brother, father, partner, nephew and grandson.

He said: "On 9 April, cowardly evil men devoid of any standards of mercy or humanity murdered him, shooting him in an act of cold blood. And why? Because we did our civic duty as a family.

"Since these people infected our lives with their hateful poison, every moment of every hour since that awful day, we are numb with grief. Our sense of loss so profound impossible to find words to describe.

"It is a loss we will never get over. There are days when it is difficult to do basic tasks."

He said the family had also been handed a life sentence.

And he said "all this happened because we stood up to these people".

Mr Collins also spoke about how the family had been forced to leave the country and said the family will never get over the loss of their son.

He described how he held his dying son in his arms: "He was gasping for breath and he wanted me to know he loved me and his mother.

"When they murdered my son they wounded me and I am slowly bleeding to death. I live with the reality that they came for me."

Speaking about the impact of the killing on his wife, Mr Collins said: "No mother should have to bury her child, particularly one whose life was ended by such a callous event."

He added that the victim's brothers and sisters had their "world torn apart".

"The murder cost them the happiest years of their lives. These thugs forced them into a life of fear, always looking over their shoulder."

He also thanked the people of Limerick and the public for their support.

He said he hoped the breaking up of the gang and new laws "would be part of Roy's legacy and his needless death would not be entirely in vain".

Speaking outside the court Mr Collins said after today the family's ten year nightmare is over, justice has been served and maybe now the family can get on with our lives.

"it's been  a dreadful time", he said.

He also said he would like to think the family could return to Limerick and rebuild their lives back here at home.

"This is where our lives and families are", he said.

Mr Collins said he always believed this day would come and he was surprised convicted criminals testified against the two men.

He said: "sometimes you don't have a choice but to face down criminal gangs; you have to do it and trust the gardaí and the justice system. This is the way to sort this out."

Limerick: State Operating A "Pass The Parcel" System For Troubled Teens: Judge

By Jimmy Woulfe, Mid-West Correspondent (Examiner)

State services are now operating a “pass the parcel” system when dealing with troubled teens, a District Court judge has warned.

Judge Eugene O’Kelly voiced his concerns after learning that dangerous young criminals are routinely placed in Limerick University Hospital wards, among very sick patients, when the State has no secure unit for them.

Judge O’Kelly was told in court yesterday that a 16-year-old “escaped” from the hospital over the weekend, after he had been placed into the care of the HSE by another judge.

There had been six failed attempts to get the youth into Oberstown House since July on foot of successive court orders. He was still at large last night.

He faces a number of charges, one so serious he has been sent forward for trial at Limerick Circuit Court.

The court heard there are 36 places at Oberstown House and Trinity House for male offenders under 17. It was also told the HSE has a protocol at weekends that boys ordered into their care by a court are placed in Limerick University Hospital when there are no places available.

Tim Hanley, HSE children in care manager for Limerick, said this protocol was followed after Saturday’s court sitting in Ennis but the youth absconded from the hospital and was still missing.

Mr Hanley said the youth, whose parents say is a danger to himself and the public, needed “preventative custody”.

Mr Hanley, in reply to Judge O’Kelly, said there was a facility to send young offenders to custodial centres abroad, but this was a very complex process and involved the High Court.

The boy’s father informed the court that neither he nor the boy’s mother was informed that their son had gone missing from Limerick University Hospital at the weekend.

Tony O’Donovan, principal officer in the Department of Children and Youth Affairs and child welfare adviser in the Irish Youth Justice Service section of the department, said they had received six requests since July for a bed for the boy at Oberstown House, but none was available.

Mr O’Donovan said he did not know when the next bed would become available, but because of the situation which has arisen in this case, they would endeavour to give him the next bed.

Mr O’Donovan said that while the HSE and the Irish Youth Justice Service work under the minister in the department dealing with boys such as this 16-year-old, there was no cross-over between the two sections as they operated under different legislation.

Judge O’Kelly remarked that different arms of the State seemed to be passing the parcel and he issued another warrant for the arrest of the missing youth.