Latest news with #PeterGallagher
News.com.au
08-06-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Cafe owner evicted, beer turned off and 15 sacked at popular RSL club
A restaurant manager has won a reprieve from an arbitration court after a RSL-affiliated digger's club turned off the beer to her restaurant prior to ordering her unlawful eviction. Tina Plessas spent the weekend working to restore operations to her cafe/restaurant after the CEO of the RSL-affiliated Coogee Diggers Club 'forcibly evicted' Ms Plessas without notice on Friday May 27. The NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) on Wednesday granted interim orders for Ms Plessas to resume trading at her Cece's restaurant after Diggers' club CEO Peter Gallagher informed her the club was abruptly terminating her catering agreement weeks after the small business owner opened her doors in March. Ms Plessas was forced to lay off 15 staff before taking the matter to NCAT to challenge the club's decision. The hearing of the application for interim orders and a directions hearing in the application for substantive orders will be listed on June 27. Ms Plessas opened her cafe/restaurant on the ground floor of Coogee Diggers after successfully pitching for the lease in 2024 and was planning to open a bakery in future weeks. The opening of Cece's followed a big budget renovation of the 90-year-old club's ground floor facilities driven by Mr Gallagher. Architecture firm Pony Design and developer Girvan put the estimated cost of their work on the project at $6 million. Sources say that figure could stretch as high as $8 million however when additional work is factored in. The upstairs areas remains largely untouched. The figure is well above the $3 million estimated by the club's committee in 2022 according to former board directors. Opened in 1935, the club is the base of the Coogee-Randwick-Clovelly RSL sub-branch which operates separately to Coogee Diggers and which for decades has seen its membership decline. Angry Coogee Diggers' patrons who contacted following Ms Plessas' eviction said her venue, the first dining room to open on the ground floor of the club in 60 years, had immediately proved popular with the local community and families disinclined to patronise the club's old-style upstairs bistro and sports bar. 'The venue was humming from 7am with parents grabbing coffees or a protein shake on the way to school drop-off and often coming back for brunch or lunch,' said one angry patron. 'Some people stayed all day. It's unthinkable she's been turfed out when the place was booming.' On Thursday Ms Plessas described her eviction by the club as 'unconscionable without a right of reply'. She claimed that after being forced to take beer off her menu on May 15 due to the taps allegedly being turned off without notice, the beer was once again flowing at her downstairs venue some 30 minutes following her eviction on May 27. 'It was a deliberate obstruction of a successful business that within weeks of opening was turning over more than $100k a month,' she told Following the NCAT order, Ms Plessas returned to the Diggers on Friday hoping to resume trading only to find her property, including furniture and kitchenware, packed in a loading dock and her some coffee making equipment missing. Coogee Diggers' CEO Mr Gallagher didn't respond to specific questions concerning the beer outage and wouldn't be drawn on the restaurant's eviction. He did confirm Ms Plessas was back in the building on Friday June 6, as per the interim NCAT orders. 'Our team welcomed Tina back this morning and plan to actively work with her amazing team,' the CEO said. Ms Plessas disputed the claim she had been 'welcomed' back and stated she has been the victim of a viscous smear campaign at the club. Addressing a document Mr Gallagher forwarded, unprompted, to she confirmed one of her former restaurants in Sydney's CBD had been shuttered as a result of the Covid downturn and for personal reasons unrelated to her business. She placed that business into voluntary liquidation in 2024. The restaurant owner is not the first contractor, club employee or director to be allegedly forced out of the club during the stewardship of Mr Gallagher who has been CEO since 2019. The club's former president Steve Despea claimed he was forced to stand down from his role in 2023 after pushing back against the planned multimillion-dollar club renovations. Mr Despea lost his positions as club president and board director after a 19-year involvement. He was furthermore given a life suspension by the club for questioning the CEO and dragged before the Liquor & Gaming Regulator on claims that were ultimately rejected by the authority in February 2024. 'We have been through two years of hell,' he said on Friday before calling for a forensic audit to be conducted on club spending relating to the Coogee Diggers' downstairs renovations. Another former board director, Mr Adrian Sutter, confirmed he too was sacked by the CEO and handed a life ban by the club after he supported the then president Mr Despea. An Afghanistan war veteran who served in 2009 and 2010, Mr Sutter said he joined the club in 2019 after being approached by Mr Gallagher and asked to bring the work he was doing in veterans' rehabilitation to the Coogee Diggers. 'After standing up to the board concerning Steve Despea's rough treatment I was kicked off the board,' he said. 'There's no one doing anything for (war) veterans in Coogee and Randwick now, despite what the club's marketing suggests.' The Coogee Diggers' website states that the club supports veterans by providing facilities for meetings, commemorative events and with initiatives such as legacy membership rates at the club's gym. Coogee/Randwick/Clovelly RSL clubs, established in 1928 and 1941, operate separately from the Coogee Diggers Club, which is governed by the Registered Clubs Act. On Friday, Mr Gallagher, who has a background working in tele-fundraising and as a Police Citizens Youth Club executive, declined to comment further on Ms Plessas's eviction. Members of the club's board are yet to respond to questions emailed to them by on Friday. On May 15 Coogee Diggers issued a notice to members about plans to amalgamate with Paddington/Woollahra RSL Memorial and Community Club which are currently underway. The boards of both clubs have approved the amalgamation in principal. The matter will next go to general meetings at each club and will ultimately be in the hands of Paddington RSL's voting members. Such an amalgamation would see Coogee Diggers become the parent club in the union and strengthen the remit of the club's CEO.
Global News
02-06-2025
- Automotive
- Global News
Southern Alberta students prepare for the future
See more sharing options Send this page to someone via email Share this item on Twitter Share this item via WhatsApp Share this item on Facebook Gathering at Lethbridge Polytechnic, students from across southern Alberta built wind-powered cars during a fun engineering day away from the classroom. 'The Wind Rally was really supposed to focus on core competencies in the trades,' said Peter Gallagher with the Southern Alberta Collegiate Institute. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy The aim of the day was for students to sample various roles to learn what they enjoy doing and what they don't. As explained in the video above, students found fun in accounting, building and more.
RTÉ News
28-05-2025
- RTÉ News
Investigation into loyalist murder of Peter Gallagher 'wholly inadequate'
A police investigation into the murder of a man by loyalists in Belfast in 1993 was "wholly inadequate", the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland has found. Peter Gallagher, a 44-year-old father of seven from Toomebridge in Co Antrim, was shot dead at an industrial park in west Belfast in March of that year. His family complained to the Police Ombudsman's Office about the thoroughness of the original murder investigation. Today, the ombudsman found that although 12 people should have been of interest to investigating detectives, none had been arrested. Marie Anderson said this was despite the fact that some were linked "by significant, and on occasion corroborative intelligence and other information". Mr Gallagher was shot dead by elements of the west Belfast Ulster Defence Association (UDA) based around the Shankill Road known as 'C Company'. Ms Anderson also criticised a decision to stand down surveillance on members of the gang even though at the time it had proven disruptive and the authorities knew attacks were being planned. The intelligence focus had been switched to the activities of the IRA. Within two days of surveillance being suspended, the UDA had murdered Mr Gallagher and 17-year-old Damien Walsh also in west Belfast. Ms Anderson said the decision to switch the surveillance focus ought to have been re-examined in light of the intelligence picture about the heightened risk of UDA attacks. "I am of the view that the failure to do so provided `C Company' greater opportunity to mount terrorist attacks on the nationalist community, culminating in the murders of Peter Gallagher and Damien Walsh," she said. However, the police ombudsman said she had found no intelligence, which if acted upon by police, would have prevented Mr Gallagher's murder. Neither was there any evidence that members of the security forces had provided information to loyalists to facilitate the attack. No one has ever been convicted for either murder. The ombudsman's report said the police investigation had zoned in on three principal suspects in respect of Mr Gallagher's murder. Ballistic tests revealed that a 9mm Browning pistol used to murder him had been amongst a batch smuggled into Northern Ireland from South Africa in December 1987. The police ombudsman said the investigations into the Gallagher and Walsh murders ought to have been linked and that the failure to do so had resulted in a "fragmented investigative approach" which had undermined both murder inquiries.
BreakingNews.ie
28-05-2025
- General
- BreakingNews.ie
Investigation into loyalist murder of Peter Gallagher ‘wholly inadequate'
The investigation into the murder by loyalists of a man in Belfast in 1993 was 'wholly inadequate', the North's Police Ombudsman has found. Peter Gallagher (44), a father-of-seven from Toomebridge, Co Antrim, was shot and fatally wounded by a loyalist gunman as he arrived for work at the Westlink Enterprise Centre in west Belfast shortly before 8am on March 24th. Advertisement The UFF admitted responsibility in a call to BBC. No one has been convicted in relation to the murder of Mr Gallagher. Police Ombudsman Marie Anderson outside her office in Belfast. Photo: PA Police Ombudsman Marie Anderson said her office found that there had been 12 people who should have been of interest to the murder investigation, but none were arrested. She said some of those were linked by significant, and on occasion corroborative, intelligence and other information. Advertisement She also criticised the police decision to 'cease surveillance of members of the UDA/UFF two days before the murder, given that they had received multiple intelligence and other reports indicating that the group were actively planning attacks'. It was found that surveillance of the Shankill-road based C Company of the UDA/UFF was paused on March 22nd, with resources reallocated in response to intelligence about Provisional IRA activity. Both Mr Gallagher and 17-year-old Damien Walsh were killed before surveillance resumed on March 30th. However, the Police Ombudsman probe found no intelligence that, if acted upon by police, could have prevented Mr Gallagher's murder, and neither was there any evidence that security forces provided information to paramilitaries to facilitate the attack. Advertisement Mrs Anderson found the initial police response to Mr Gallagher's murder had been appropriate and comprehensive in nature, with a pistol found near the scene and more than 50 statements obtained. However, she said it was difficult to understand why potential persons of interest were not arrested. Mrs Anderson noted that the investigation of complaints about historical matters is challenging due to the passage of time and unavailability of relevant witnesses and documentation. However, she said her investigators had 'gathered substantial evidence and other information during the course of this investigation' and said she was grateful for the co-operation of a number of former police officers who had assisted her inquiries. Advertisement 'I believe Mr Gallagher was the innocent victim of a campaign of terror mounted by loyalist paramilitaries against the nationalist community,' she said. 'The UDA/UFF alone were responsible for Mr Gallagher's murder. 'I conclude, however, that the family were failed by a wholly inadequate murder inquiry and in particular the failure to link the murder of Damien Walsh to that of their loved one.' The victims group Relatives for Justice (RFJ) welcomed the ombudsman's report. Advertisement 'We are privileged to have supported the Gallagher family in this long and challenging journey for truth and accountability,' they said. 'While the report sheds some light on the circumstances surrounding Peter's murder, it also highlights the scale and depth of state failure. 'What emerges is not closure, but a compelling argument for a full, independent, and human rights-compliant investigation, which the state has so far failed to deliver. 'That this report may be among the last to emerge under the Police Ombudsman's now-dismantled powers is a sobering thought. The Legacy Act has shut down future investigations, closed hundreds of similar cases, and sent a clear message to families: the truth will not be tolerated. Ireland Crowd backs calls for public inquiry into 1997 mur... Read More 'The Gallagher family's long campaign reflects the experience of so many across the North – families failed not just once by the violence that took their loved ones, but again and again by the state's refusal to investigate and to tell the truth. 'RFJ stands with the Gallagher family and all families who continue to fight for justice. 'This report is not the end. It must be the basis for further action which the family will now actively consider.'
BBC News
28-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
Investigation into Belfast murder of Peter Gallagher 'inadequate'
The police investigation into the loyalist murder of a man in west Belfast in 1993 was "wholly inadequate" and failed his family, the Police Ombudsman has Gallagher, a 44-year-old father of seven from Toomebridge, County Antrim, was shot by a UFF gunman while arriving for work at the Westlink Enterprise Centre shortly before 8am on 24 March Anderson said her investigation found there were a total of 12 people who should have been of interest to the murder investigation, but none were she added that her enquiries had found no intelligence that, if acted upon by police, could have prevented Mr Gallagher's murder. Mrs Anderson found that the 12 suspects were linked by "significant, and on occasion corroborative, intelligence and other information".She also criticised the police decision to cease surveillance of members of the UDA/UFF two days before the murder, despite multiple intelligence and other reports indicating the group were actively planning three days of surveillance being paused on 22 March 1993 - when police resources were reallocated in response to intelligence about IRA activity - the Shankill-based 'C Company' unit of the UDA/UFF had murdered Mr Gallagher and, in a separate attack the following day, 17-year-old Damien Walsh, the report the time surveillance of C Company members resumed on 30 March 1993, they had also attempted to murder two other people."I found no evidence that during this time police had reconsidered their decision to cease surveillance of 'C Company' members, despite the murders of Mr Gallagher and Damien Walsh, and mounting intelligence about other planned attacks," Mrs Anderson Police Ombudsman said was there no evidence that security forces provided information to paramilitaries to facilitate the attack. Mr Gallagher was hit multiple times by shots fired from an area of grass behind fencing overlooking the back of the Westlink Enterprise Centre, and backing onto the nearby dual UFF admitted responsibility and police received information indicating the attack had been carried out by members of 'C Company'.Mrs Anderson said the initial police response to Mr Gallagher's murder had been appropriate and comprehensive in nature.A bicycle suspected to have been used by the gunman was found near a footbridge across the Westlink near Roden Street.A 9mm Browning pistol wrapped in a balaclava was recovered near the scene of the attack, and scenes of crime examination recovered 10 empty cartridge cases, three bullet heads as well as soil and grass enquiries were undertaken, and vehicle checkpoints were conducted on both lanes of the Westlink the following morning. These enquiries identified a number of witnesses, and more than 50 statements were obtained from members of the public, police officers, expert witnesses and medical the day of Mr Gallagher's murder, police conducted searches of the homes of two men. A number of items were seized during one of the searches - including three balaclavas, a coat with surgical gloves in the pocket, and a plastic bag of on the items found no link to the Mrs Anderson said it was difficult to understand why - as the murder investigation progressed and intelligence and other information coalesced around three primary suspects - they had not been has been convicted over either the murder of Mr Gallagher or of Mr Walsh.
