Gardai probe county break-ins
Sometime between 6.20pm on Monday May 10 and 8am on Tuesday May 11, a retail premises on Castle Road, Oranmore was broken into with damage caused to the front of the property.
Gardaí in Oranmore are asking anyone who may have seen any person acting suspiciously on Monday night/Tuesday morning or anyone with any information in relation to the break in to contact them on 091-388030.
Between 9am on Tuesday May 11 and 9pm on Wednesday May 12 an attempt was made to break into and damage was caused to a workshop at Moneyteige, Craughwell.
If you saw anything suspicious in the Craughwell area or if you have any information in relation to this incident, you are asked to contact Craughwell Garda Station on 091-876320.
BMW damaged in Aucloggeen incident
At around 3.45am on Tuesday May 11 the passenger side door and window were damaged and a white BMW 520 broken into while parked in the car park of Peggy’s Bar, Aucloggeen, Claregalway.
A male was seen in the area around the vehicle at the time of the theft. This male was wearing a black hoodie and pants with white trainers.
He left the scene in a silver coloured saloon car and drove off in the direction of Currandrum. Gardaí are asking anyone who may have seen this male or the vehicle described or anyone with anything that could help the gardaí with their investigation to contact Oranmore Garda Station on 091-388030.
Senator ponders, ‘If birds could vote, would policies in Ireland have been different?’
In Aristophanes’ play The Birds, two old men on the run from Athens and its laws, convince the local bird population to set up a city in the sky which will not only challenge the power of the Greek capital, but the power of the gods themselves.
The play - from which we get the term ‘cloud cuckoo land’ - may have been in the mind of Green senator Pauline O’Reilly, who, in the Seanad this week, asked the question, “What different policies would have been put in place if birds could vote?”
Sen O’Reilly was raising the serious issue of the increasing endangerment of a number of bird species in Ireland. “When we look down the list of birds that have moved from green to amber, and amber to red on the endangered list it can feel very overwhelming,” she said.
In response to Sen O’Reilly, Oonagh Duggan of Birdwatch Ireland said there is now an opportunity to restore biodiversity and draw attention to the issue. She noted that during the passage of the Heritage Bill, the proposed weakening of the laws to protect nesting birds saw a “phenomenal response” from the public.
“The tide has turned and I think the public are behind measures, they are behind initiatives, they want to see change, they want to see restored biodiversity and they want to tackle climate change as well,” she said. “I really do see this as an exciting time.” — Kernan Andrews
