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28 May 2026 latest
  1. planningPlanning conditional: Permission to refurbish and renovate existing dwelling including construction of a...
  2. politicsRoscommon Council debates 11‑turbine wind farm near Ballinagar and French Park
  3. communityWind Farm Noise Concerns Spark Council Debate in Clare
  4. planningPermission for development which will consist of the construction of a single storey
  5. courts'Misconduct in public office': abuser not charged for 26 years after making 'wholesale' admissions
  6. courtsFormer priest and Irish Times columnist has abuse conviction quashed
  7. courtsFormer priest and Irish Times columnist jailed for sexual abuse
  8. courtsCourt upholds bus driver's conviction for causing death of cyclist
  9. courtsBus driver appeals conviction for causing death of cyclist
  10. courtsForestry fraudster gets an extra two years in jail
  11. courtsForestry scheme fraudsters jailed
  12. courtsPair ran €5m "Ponzi scheme" that duped forestry investors

Crime & Courts

12 stories

'Misconduct in public office': abuser not charged for 26 years after making 'wholesale' admissions

Thomas Collins, aged 59, of The Fair Green, Frenchpark, County Roscommon, has been sentenced to eleven and a half years imprisonment at the Central Criminal Court for the sexual abuse of three cousins between 1978 and 1992. Collins pleaded guilty to 21 sample counts including indecent assault, attempted rape, and rape. Justice Mary Ellen Ring noted the case should have been resolved decades earlier. The court heard…

Courts News Ireland report
17 Dec 2024 · Courts News Ireland

Former priest and Irish Times columnist has abuse conviction quashed

The Court of Appeal has quashed the conviction of Barry Fergal Jennings, a 57-year-old former priest and Irish Times columnist from Cloonkeerin, Frenchpark, County Roscommon. Jennings had been sentenced to four years imprisonment following his conviction in March 2022 on six counts of sexual assault against a schoolboy at locations in Dublin between September 1998 and December 1999. He had denied the charges. Ms…

Courts News Ireland report
19 May 2023 · Courts News Ireland

Former priest and Irish Times columnist jailed for sexual abuse

A former priest and Irish Times columnist has been sentenced to four years imprisonment following conviction for multiple sexual assaults on a schoolboy in the late 1990s. Barry Fergal Jennings, aged 56, of Cloonkeerin, French Park, County Roscommon, was unanimously convicted by jury at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court in March of six counts of sexual assault committed between September 1998 and December 1999. At the…

Courts News Ireland report
06 May 2022 · Courts News Ireland

Court upholds bus driver's conviction for causing death of cyclist

The Court of Appeal has upheld the conviction of Osborn Irabor for careless driving causing the death of cyclist Mary White on November 17, 2014. Irabor, aged 60 from French Park, Tyrrelstown, Dublin, was originally convicted following a two-day trial at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court in October 2018 and disqualified from driving for four years. He had pleaded not guilty to the charge. His appeal centred on claims…

Courts News Ireland report
19 Oct 2021 · Courts News Ireland

Bus driver appeals conviction for causing death of cyclist

A bus driver has appealed his conviction for careless driving causing death, challenging the trial judge's instructions to the jury on legal terminology. Osborn Irabor, aged 60 of French Park, Dublin, was convicted in 2018 at the Circuit Criminal Court in connection with the death of a cyclist on November 17, 2014. During jury deliberations, jurors requested clarification of legal principles in layman's terms, but…

Courts News Ireland report
26 Jan 2021 · Courts News Ireland

Forestry fraudster gets an extra two years in jail

A man convicted of defrauding 143 investors through a bogus forestry scheme has received an additional two years in prison following a Court of Appeal ruling. Garret Hevey, aged 43, operated Arden Forestry Management Limited under a false identity, directing approximately €5.5 million through a Dublin bank account between 2014 and 2016. The operation centred on repeatedly selling the same two forest parcels in…

Courts News Ireland report
03 Feb 2020 · Courts News Ireland

Forestry scheme fraudsters jailed

Two men were jailed at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on 29 July 2019 following their convictions for defrauding over 140 foreign investors of approximately €5.5 million through Arden Forestry Management between January 2014 and mid-2016. Garret Hevey, described by the court as the scheme's architect, pleaded guilty to dishonestly inducing investment and making deceptive payment requests. David Peile, who joined the…

Courts News Ireland report
29 Jul 2019 · Courts News Ireland

Pair ran €5m "Ponzi scheme" that duped forestry investors

Two Dublin men pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to charges relating to a fraudulent forestry investment scheme. Between January 2014 and mid-2016, Garret Hevey and David Peile induced approximately 143 foreign investors to deposit roughly €5.5 million into Arden Forestry Management. Detective Inspector Catharina Gunne told the court the investments would have required around 858 acres of land, but the…

Courts News Ireland report
19 Mar 2019 · Courts News Ireland

Drivers must have "particular regard to vulnerability of cyclists", judge says

A bus driver from Dublin has been convicted of careless driving causing death following a collision with a cyclist on Burlington Road in November 2014. Osborn Irabor, aged fifty-eight, had pleaded not guilty to the charge but was found guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. The incident occurred when his double-decker bus struck Mary White as she cycled towards a T-junction. Ms White sustained traumatic head…

Courts News Ireland report
12 Nov 2018 · Courts News Ireland

Dublin bus driver guilty of careless driving causing death of cyclist

A jury at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court has found Osborn Irabor, a Dublin Bus driver aged 58 from Tyrrelstown, Dublin, guilty of careless driving causing the death of cyclist Mary White on November 17th, 2014. The collision occurred at approximately 9.40pm at a T-junction on Burlington Road when the bus turned right into the path of Ms White, who was cycling towards the junction. She sustained serious head injuries…

Courts News Ireland report
24 Oct 2018 · Courts News Ireland

Three buses observed cutting fatal crash corner, expert tells trial

At Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, a forensic collision investigator gave evidence that at least three Dublin Bus vehicles were observed cutting the corner at a junction where a fatal collision occurred in 2014. Osborn Irabor, aged 58, of French Park, Tyrrelstown, Dublin, has pleaded not guilty to careless driving causing the death of Mary White on November 17, 2014. The cyclist was struck by a bus at a T-junction on…

Courts News Ireland report
24 Oct 2018 · Courts News Ireland

Dublin bus driver goes on trial accused of causing death of cyclist

Osborn Irabor, a Dublin Bus driver aged 58 from Tyrrelstown, Dublin, has pleaded not guilty to careless driving causing the death of cyclist Mary White at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. The collision occurred on 17 November 2014 at a T-junction on Burlington Road at approximately 9.40pm. Ms White sustained serious head injuries when her bicycle and the bus collided and was pronounced dead two days later at St…

Courts News Ireland report
23 Oct 2018 · Courts News Ireland

Planning

2 stories

Permission for development which will consist of the construction of a single storey

Elaine Casserly is seeking permission Permission for development which will consist of the construction of a single storey dwelling, domestic garage, connection to sewer and carry out associated site development works at at Frenchpark Demesne,, Frenchpark,, Co. Roscommon. New Application.

Elaine Casserly
File ref: 2660212 · Roscommon County Council
07 May 2026 · Roscommon County Council (Planning)

Politics & TDs

1 story

Roscommon Council debates 11‑turbine wind farm near Ballinagar and French Park

Shannonside FM reported that Roscommon County Council is considering a wind farm with 11 turbines near Ballinagar and French Park, amid local concerns over noise and light flicker. The council also marked a year since Councillor Michael Holland was co‑opted after the death of Councillor Anthony Waldron.

Liam Callaghan, Michael Holland, Anthony Waldron
26 May 2026 · shannonside

Community

1 story

Wind Farm Noise Concerns Spark Council Debate in Clare

A listener on Shannon's Side FM raised noise complaints from turbines near Ballinagar and French Park, prompting Councillor Liam Callahan to discuss new planning guidelines. The council meeting also marked a year since Councillor Michael Holland was co‑opted after the death of Councillor Anthony Waldron.

Dan Dooner, Liam Callahan, Michael Holland
26 May 2026 · shannonside

Court Reports

Cases and rulings mentioning French Park from local newspapers and Courts News Ireland.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court 2022-05-06 Courts News Ireland

Former priest and Irish Times columnist jailed for sexual abuse

A former priest and Irish Times columnist has been sentenced to four years imprisonment following conviction for multiple sexual assaults on a schoolboy in the late 1990s. Barry Fergal Jennings, aged 56, of Cloonkeerin, French Park, County Roscommon, was unanimously convicted...

Court of Appeal 2021-01-26 Courts News Ireland

Bus driver appeals conviction for causing death of cyclist

A bus driver has appealed his conviction for careless driving causing death, challenging the trial judge's instructions to the jury on legal terminology. Osborn Irabor, aged 60 of French Park, Dublin, was convicted in 2018 at the Circuit Criminal Court in connection with the...

Court of Appeal 2020-02-03 Courts News Ireland

Forestry fraudster gets an extra two years in jail

A man convicted of defrauding 143 investors through a bogus forestry scheme has received an additional two years in prison following a Court of Appeal ruling. Garret Hevey, aged 43, operated Arden Forestry Management Limited under a false identity, directing approximately €5.5...

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court 2019-07-29 Courts News Ireland

Forestry scheme fraudsters jailed

Two men were jailed at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on 29 July 2019 following their convictions for defrauding over 140 foreign investors of approximately €5.5 million through Arden Forestry Management between January 2014 and mid-2016. Garret Hevey, described by the court as...

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court 2019-03-19 Courts News Ireland

Pair ran €5m "Ponzi scheme" that duped forestry investors

Two Dublin men pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to charges relating to a fraudulent forestry investment scheme. Between January 2014 and mid-2016, Garret Hevey and David Peile induced approximately 143 foreign investors to deposit roughly €5.5 million into Arden...