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City man acquitted of Dublin assault
Galway Bay fm newsroom – A city resident has been acquitted of assaulting a man who later had to have part of his testicle removed.
35 year old Raymond Leonard of Sliabh Ban, Ballybane, and with a previous address at Chelmsford Road, Ranelagh, Dublin had pleaded NOT guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to assaulting Nicholas Devlin causing him harm at Anna Villa, Ranelagh, on August 30, 2015.
The jury took just under 90 minutes to enter a unanimous NOT guilty verdict on day four of the trial.
During the trial, Garda Gregory Devoy said Mr Leonard gave a voluntary interview six months after the incident and said he couldn’t recall the night in question.
Mr Leonard, a former manager at An Bhialann restaurant in Ranelagh, told gardaí he had never been in a fight in his life.
Mr Devlin agreed under cross-examination that his “lasting impression” was of the attacker being 6ft tall.
Defence counsel Keith Spencer BL put it to Mr Devlin that his client is 5ft 8.
Mr Devlin also agreed that he stated the assailant was wearing a dark shirt.
Mr Spencer asked Mr Devlin to explain why Mr Leonard could be seen wearing a white shirt on pub CCTV shortly before the incident.
The witness replied that he felt it was consistent to give the same evidence, as he thought it had been a dark shirt.
He said it would have been harder to distinguish colours outside at night.
Breaking News
UHG was third most overcrowded hospital nationwide during January

Galway Bay fm newsroom – UHG was the third most overcrowded hospital in the country last month.
728 patients were waiting for a bed during January.
Meanwhile, 417 patients were waiting on trolleys at Portiuncula Hospital – the worst January on record for the Ballinasloe hospital.
11,289 people were recorded on hospital trolleys since January 1st
That’s up 2 and half thousand on the same time last year.
University Hospital Limerick continues to be the worst affected by over-crowding, accounting for 10 per cent of the overall figure, at 1,180.
Cork, Galway, Letterkenny, and St. Vincent’s in Dublin make up the top five – totalling of over 3,000.
That’s in stark contrast with the bottom five – Tullamore, Portlaoise, the National Children’s Hospital, Connolly Hospital, and Waterford – with a combined total of 213.
The INMO says, “a lack of adequate planning has put unnecessary stress on nurses and the patients”, describing January’s figures as “unacceptably high”.
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Athenry, Loughrea, Gort and Headford now priorities for transport studies

Galway Bay fm newsroom – Athenry, Loughrea, Headford and Gort are now priorities for upcoming transport studies.
Systra Ltd will carry out some of the studies, which must also align with each Local area plan.
The studies will look at modes of travel, options for new Active Travel measures and a traffic management plan.
Councillor Andrew Reddington explains how this has come about and outlines how it will work in Headford, for example
Breaking News
Galway slightly above national average for home vacancy rate

Galway Bay fm newsroom – Galway has a home vacancy rate just above the national average of 4 percent.
Across the county, 6 percent of homes are vacant, according to Gerdirectory’s Residential Buildings Report.
At the end of 2022, Leitrim had the highest number of vacancies, at 12 percent, followed closely by Mayo on 11 percent.
While Dublin has the lowest, with just one percent of homes there vacant.
Nationally, over 83,500 residential properties were vacant last month, with the report finding the West was worst affected.