Latest news with #Moylan
Sunday World
3 days ago
- Sunday World
Granddaughter ‘heartbroken' after solicitor's misconduct led to OAP's €19k nursing home bill unpaid
Granddaughter of Patrick Barrett was unable to pay the fees from his accounts as an enduring power of attorney order was not executed by Mr Moylan despite being instructed to do so Solicitor John Moylan will be sanctioned by the tribunal in September. Photo: Steve Humphreys Serious failings by a lawyer left an elderly man's granddaughter 'heartbroken' and unable to access funds to pay his nursing home bills. The late Patrick 'Patsy' Barrett, who suffered from dementia and required round-the-clock care, was able to continue living in the nursing home – despite owing up to €19,000 in fees – only due to compassion shown by its operators. The matter has led to two findings of misconduct being made against solicitor John Moylan, who failed to follow Mr Barrett's instructions in 2020 to execute an enduring power of attorney (EPA). Mr Barrett sought the legal instrument so his granddaughter Jacqui Owen could look after his affairs should he become unable to do so himself. Mr Moylan (71) not only failed to provide adequate legal services to Mr Barrett but also to respond adequately or at all to Ms Owen when she asked him to register the EPA with the Registrar of Wards of Court in 2022 after her grandfather lost capacity. It later emerged Mr Moylan had never executed the EPA in the first place in 2020. He failed to engage with the Legal Services Regulatory Authority (LSRA) when it investigated a complaint made by Ms Owen, while an explanation he gave for his inaction was rejected as 'not credible' by the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal (LPDT). It left me in a situation where I did not know what would happen to my grandad Mr Barrett died at the nursing home last May at the age of 99. The bill for his stay has yet to be paid. Giving evidence at an LPDT hearing last week, Ms Owen described what had occurred as 'very upsetting' and 'stressful' for her. 'It left me in a situation where I did not know what would happen to my grandad,' she said. Ms Owen said that after six months of chasing Mr Moylan for answers she went to the LSRA, as she was 'exhausted, frustrated and fed up of being led astray and not being told the truth'. The solicitor, of Richard Moylan and Company Solicitors in Mallow, Co Cork, will be sanctioned by the tribunal in September. It is the second serious finding to be made against him by a disciplinary body in the space of just three years. In 2022, the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal found him guilty of misconduct for falsely claiming to have witnessed the signing of company documents. He was censured and ordered to pay €15,000 to the Law Society Compensation Fund and €15,000 towards the legal costs of Deirdre O'Flynn, the woman whose signature was forged. The solicitor also found himself in hot water last December, when he was arrested and brought by gardaí to the High Court in Dublin after failing to comply with an order requiring him to provide a former client with documents relating to her €1.7m home. Mr Moylan avoided a potential contempt of court sanction, such as imprisonment or a fine, after complying with the order. An LPDT hearing on Thursday was told Ms Owen became her grandfather's carer after his wife Margaret Ellen died in May 2020. She looked after the household, cooked, cleaned, helped Mr Barrett pay his bills, and brought him to medical and legal appointments. That summer, Mr Barrett, who lived in Mallow, went to Mr Moylan's office to swear a new will, leaving his estate to Ms Owen. Previous wills had benefited his children. Solicitor John Moylan will be sanctioned by the tribunal in September. Photo: Steve Humphreys News in 90 Seconds - July 22nd A few weeks later, the pensioner instructed Mr Moylan to execute an EPA that would allow Ms Owen manage his affairs should he lose capacity in future. Regulations required the solicitor to make two relatives other than Ms Owen notice parties to the EPA's creation. The tribunal heard Mr Barrett gave clear instructions that his children Bridget, Patricia and Robert were not to be notified, and that contact should instead be made with other relatives. Mr Barrett's health declined in 2022. That July, he suffered a fall and was hospitalised. It became clear he could not return home, so he was admitted to Bridhaven Nursing Home in Mallow. A doctor's report concluded he lacked capacity to manage his own affairs and this was provided to Mr Moylan. Ms Owen contacted the solicitor and asked him to take the next step in the process, registering the EPA she believed had been executed two years previously. The tribunal heard that nursing home and pharmacy bills were mounting and she was unable to discharge these from Mr Barrett's pension alone. Her grandfather's bank told her it could not give her access to his accounts to pay bills until the EPA was in force. Ms Owen made contact with Mr Moylan by phone and email on at least 10 occasions between August and December 2022 asking about progress, but the EPA was never registered. Solicitor John Moylan will be sanctioned by the tribunal in September. Photo: Steve Humphreys When Mr Moylan eventually came back to her, he said he had written to Mr Barrett's daughter Bridget, who was living in England, informing her of the EPA. But Mr Moylan accepted under questioning at the tribunal that this letter was never actually sent. The solicitor had also asked Ms Owen for bank statements and nursing home invoices. Ms Owen queried the purported contact with Bridget against Mr Barrett's wishes. She also said Mr Barrett's finances were none of the solicitor's business. In another email exchange, Mr Moylan gave the impression matters were in hand, saying he was 'in contact with Dublin'. An email from Ms Owen on December 2, 2022, showed how exasperated she was. I am beyond sick of chasing you, of being ignored, and I am pretty sure being lied to as well 'Mr Moylan, I can't cover my grandfather's expenses, which I have been trying and failing to do since he went into the nursing home,' Ms Owen wrote. 'Do you have any idea how many times I have had to explain the reason the money is owing is because you, the solicitor, have failed to implement his wishes of me having enduring power of attorney? 'I am beyond sick of chasing you, of being ignored, and I am pretty sure being lied to as well.' The tribunal heard how the following May, the nursing home indicated it would be unable to continue providing care unless bills were paid. Ms Owen told LSRA counsel Elaine Finneran this left her 'heartbroken'. 'My grandfather required 24-hour care. He wasn't safe to be left on his own at all for any length of time,' she said 'I was unwell myself at that time and I physically wasn't able to provide that level of care. It was very upsetting and stressful. I left me in a situation of not knowing what was going to happen to my grandad.' Ms Owen said she believed €18,000 or €19,000 was still owed to the nursing home. 'They have been very understanding and compassionate. I can only say how grateful I am that they didn't ask my grandfather to leave at any stage,' she said. During Mr Moylan's evidence, he accepted an EPA was never executed by him in 2020. He claimed he took no further steps, as there was a requirement to alert family members, but Mr Barrett had instructed him not to contact three of his children. 'He had some beef with his family. I don't quite know what it was,' the solicitor said. Ms Finneran said this was 'the first time' Mr Moylan had provided this explanation for his inaction and it was inconsistent with anything he had told Ms Owen. She also pointed out that it had been possible for the solicitor to register an EPA even if all regulations were not complied with. Mr Moylan said he had asked Ms Owen for the bank statements and nursing home bills so he could intercede with the bank to have those bills paid, claiming he had done so in other cases previously. Tribunal chairman Dónall Curtin said Mr Moylan had admitted to the 'lead facts' put forward by the LSRA and that his explanation for not registering the EPA was 'not credible'. 'This purported explanation could have been given to the complainant at any time during the months she was waiting to have the EPA registered. It was not given,' Mr Curtin said. The chairman said the tribunal accepted Ms Owen's evidence and that misconduct had been proven beyond all reasonable doubt.
Boston Globe
12-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
He made Green-Wood Cemetery a destination for the living
Around the office were a half-dozen Smeck signature guitars that Moylan had collected for the cemetery, along with books, CDs and artwork associated with other people interred there. Advertisement 'We have Leonard Bernstein,' he said. Also F.A.O. Schwarz (toys), Eberhard Faber (pencils) and Samuel Morse (code). But of filmmaker Jonas Mekas, who was cremated at the cemetery in 2019, Moylan lamented, 'I don't think we have him.' Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up (It is a sore spot with Moylan that so many families choose to scatter their loved ones' remains rather than entomb at least some of them at Green-Wood, where future generations might gather to visit them.) Green-Wood, which sits on 478 rolling, tree-filled acres in a semi-industrial neighborhood that real estate agents call Greenwood Heights, occupies a distinctive place in New York City and in the development of American cemeteries. First opened in 1838, it was in the 19th century the second-most-popular attraction in the state, after Niagara Falls, and inspired the competition to design Central Park and Prospect Park. Advertisement Moylan, who started working at the cemetery during law school and never left, has the rare distinction of taking over an established institution and utterly transforming it, turning it into a National Historic Landmark with 450,000 annual visitors. On a garishly perfect June afternoon, the cemetery's towering neo-Gothic arch entryway, home to a group of noisy monk parakeets, welcomed a few dozen visitors to the grounds. (All proceeded on foot; the cemetery does not allow bicycles, scooters or roller skates.) A couple of trolleys, used for weekend guided tours, sat idle on one of the extensive, labyrinthine paths. Smoke from an earlier ceremony wafted from a large dish by a koi pond in an area known as the Tranquility Garden. The garden and smoke reflect the changing neighborhood around Green-Wood, which has become heavily Asian American. When Moylan took over Green-Wood in 1986, the cemetery was closed to tourists or people drawn to the open space. Visitors had to tell guards at the gate which grave they intended to visit. 'That was when people were breaking in and stealing stained-glass windows and stealing bronze bars and doors off mausoleums,' Moylan said. Even so, he allowed, the tight security was choking off the life of the institution. 'I mean, Ken Jackson from Columbia, he was turned away,' Moylan said, referring to the Bancroft Prize-winning historian and author of 'Silent Cities: The Evolution of the American Cemetery.' If people tried to take photos within the cemetery, guards would rip the film out of their cameras. Then, around 1999, Moylan was attending a cremation convention in Baltimore (as one does) and decided to visit a nearby cemetery where John Wilkes Booth is buried, among other historical figures. 'And on this Saturday afternoon, there was no one in the place -- no one,' Moylan said. 'And I thought: This can't happen in Brooklyn. We can't have 478 acres of land, and we're basically not allowing people to enjoy it.' Advertisement Moylan started to court visitors, in part for financial reasons -- as more people choose cremation over more remunerative burials, cemeteries have fallen on hard times. Opening the gates gives people more opportunities to consider spending eternity there. Current plot prices start around $22,000. Over the years, Moylan added green burials and was persuaded to allow the grass to grow wild in one area to attract pollinators, a practice that has upset some families whose relatives are buried there. The cemetery created an artist-in-residence program and commissioned new sculptures, including an obelisk by French conceptual artist Sophie Calle, with a slot into which visitors are invited to slip notes describing their secrets. Work is now finishing on a $34 million welcome center and gallery in a restored 1895 greenhouse across the street. Money came from the city and state, recognizing Green-Wood as a cultural institution, not just a place where people are buried. Moylan had hoped the welcome center would open before his retirement, but he has left it to his successor, Meera Joshi, a former deputy mayor who resigned earlier this year when the Trump administration moved to drop corruption charges against Mayor Eric Adams, in apparent exchange for his help with the president's deportation agenda. It makes sense for someone who has spent his life in a cemetery to develop a particular relationship with death. Moylan, who is divorced and has no children, does not have a will -- despite a quadruple-bypass operation in 2020 -- and does not much care whether he will be buried or cremated. 'I'm not a big believer in an afterlife, so I don't think it'll really matter very much,' he said. Advertisement He said he likes to visit the graves of his parents and writer Pete Hamill, who bought a plot near that of Boss Tweed, a 19th century Tammany Hall power broker and scofflaw. 'If you're going to spend an eternity,' Hamill once said, 'better with a rogue than with a saint who would drive you into slumber.' As for Moylan's next chapter, he hopes to travel to some of the world's great cemeteries that he has not visited, and to brush up on his guitar skills, which he had once hoped would lead him to Roy Smeckian glory. He kept one of the Smeck guitars, a Gibson he had bought himself; the remainder, along with all the art, is now Joshi's domain. Beyond that, there is a planned move to Staten Island, followed, eventually, by a return to Green-Wood, with or without the possibility of an afterlife. 'Ultimately,' he said, 'I will be with Mom and Dad.' This article originally appeared in
Scoop
04-07-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Guam Nuclear Radiation Survivors ‘Heartbroken' After Being Excluded From Compensation Bill
The president of the Pacific Association for Radiation Survivors (PARS) says the US Congress 'seems to not understand that we are no different than any state'. Caleb Fotheringham, RNZ Pacific journalist People on Guam are 'disappointed' and 'heartbroken' that radiation exposure compensation is not being extended to them, the president of the Pacific Association for Radiation Survivors (PARS) says. Robert Celestial said he and others on Guam are disappointed for many reasons. 'Congress seems to not understand that we are no different than any state,' he told RNZ Pacific. 'We are human beings, we are affected in the same way they are. We are suffering the same way, we are greatly disappointed, heartbroken,' Celestial said. The extension to the United States Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) was part of Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' passed by Congress on Friday (Thursday, Washington time). Downwind compensation eligibility would extend to the entire states of Utah, Idaho and New Mexico, but Guam – which was included in an earlier version of the bill – was excluded. All claimants are eligible for US$100,000. Guam Republican congressman James Moylan attempted to make an amendment to include Guam before the bill reached the House floor earlier in the week. 'Guam has become a forgotten casualty of the nuclear era,' Moylan told the House Rules Committee. 'Federal agencies have confirmed that our island received measurable radiation exposure as a result of US nuclear testing in the Pacific and yet, despite this clear evidence, Guam remains excluded from RECA, a program that was designed specifically to address the harm caused by our nation's own policies. 'Guam is not asking for special treatment we are asking to be treated with dignity equal to the same recognition afforded to other downwind communities across our nation.' Moylan said his constituents are dying from cancers linked to radiation exposure. From 1946 to 1962, 67 nuclear bombs were detonated in the Marshall Islands, just under 2000 kilometres from Guam. New Mexico Democratic congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernández supported Moylan, who said it was 'sad Guam and other communities were not included'. The RECA extension also excluded Colorado and Montana; Idaho was also for a time but this was amended. Celestial said he heard different rumours about why Guam was not included but nothing concrete. 'A lot of excuses were saying that it's going to cost too much. You know, Guam is going to put a burden on finances.' But Celestial said the cost estimate from the Congressional Budget Office for Guam to be included was US$560m where Idaho was $1.4b. '[Money] can't be the reason that Guam got kicked out because we're the lowest on the totem pole for the amount of money it's going to cost to get us through in the bill.' The bill also extends to communities in certain zip codes in Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Alaska, who were exposed to nuclear waste. Celestial said it's taken those states 30 years to be recognised and expects Guam to be eventually paid. He said Moylan would likely now submit a standalone bill with the other states that were not included. If that fails, he said Guam could be included in nuclear compensation through the National Defense Authorization Act in December, which is for military financial support. The RECA extension includes uranium workers employed from 1 January 1942 to 31 December 1990.
Scoop
04-07-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Guam Nuclear Radiation Survivors ‘Heartbroken' After Being Excluded From Compensation Bill
The president of the Pacific Association for Radiation Survivors (PARS) says the US Congress 'seems to not understand that we are no different than any state'. Caleb Fotheringham, RNZ Pacific journalist People on Guam are 'disappointed' and 'heartbroken' that radiation exposure compensation is not being extended to them, the president of the Pacific Association for Radiation Survivors (PARS) says. Robert Celestial said he and others on Guam are disappointed for many reasons. 'Congress seems to not understand that we are no different than any state,' he told RNZ Pacific. 'We are human beings, we are affected in the same way they are. We are suffering the same way, we are greatly disappointed, heartbroken,' Celestial said. The extension to the United States Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) was part of Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' passed by Congress on Friday (Thursday, Washington time). Downwind compensation eligibility would extend to the entire states of Utah, Idaho and New Mexico, but Guam – which was included in an earlier version of the bill – was excluded. All claimants are eligible for US$100,000. Guam Republican congressman James Moylan attempted to make an amendment to include Guam before the bill reached the House floor earlier in the week. 'Guam has become a forgotten casualty of the nuclear era,' Moylan told the House Rules Committee. 'Federal agencies have confirmed that our island received measurable radiation exposure as a result of US nuclear testing in the Pacific and yet, despite this clear evidence, Guam remains excluded from RECA, a program that was designed specifically to address the harm caused by our nation's own policies. 'Guam is not asking for special treatment we are asking to be treated with dignity equal to the same recognition afforded to other downwind communities across our nation.' Moylan said his constituents are dying from cancers linked to radiation exposure. From 1946 to 1962, 67 nuclear bombs were detonated in the Marshall Islands, just under 2000 kilometres from Guam. New Mexico Democratic congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernández supported Moylan, who said it was 'sad Guam and other communities were not included'. The RECA extension also excluded Colorado and Montana; Idaho was also for a time but this was amended. Celestial said he heard different rumours about why Guam was not included but nothing concrete. 'A lot of excuses were saying that it's going to cost too much. You know, Guam is going to put a burden on finances.' But Celestial said the cost estimate from the Congressional Budget Office for Guam to be included was US$560m where Idaho was $1.4b. '[Money] can't be the reason that Guam got kicked out because we're the lowest on the totem pole for the amount of money it's going to cost to get us through in the bill.' The bill also extends to communities in certain zip codes in Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Alaska, who were exposed to nuclear waste. Celestial said it's taken those states 30 years to be recognised and expects Guam to be eventually paid. He said Moylan would likely now submit a standalone bill with the other states that were not included. If that fails, he said Guam could be included in nuclear compensation through the National Defense Authorization Act in December, which is for military financial support. The RECA extension includes uranium workers employed from 1 January 1942 to 31 December 1990.
Scoop
04-07-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Guam Nuclear Radiation Survivors 'Heartbroken' After Being Excluded From Compensation Bill
People on Guam are "disappointed" and "heartbroken" that radiation exposure compensation is not being extended to them, the president of the Pacific Association for Radiation Survivors (PARS) says. Robert Celestial said he and others on Guam are disappointed for many reasons. "Congress seems to not understand that we are no different than any state," he told RNZ Pacific. "We are human beings, we are affected in the same way they are. We are suffering the same way, we are greatly disappointed, heartbroken," Celestial said. The extension to the United States Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) was part of Trump's "big, beautiful bill" passed by Congress on Friday (Thursday, Washington time). Downwind compensation eligibility would extend to the entire states of Utah, Idaho and New Mexico, but Guam - which was included in an earlier version of the bill - was excluded. All claimants are eligible for US$100,000. Guam Republican congressman James Moylan attempted to make an amendment to include Guam before the bill reached the House floor earlier in the week. "Guam has become a forgotten casualty of the nuclear era," Moylan told the House Rules Committee. "Federal agencies have confirmed that our island received measurable radiation exposure as a result of US nuclear testing in the Pacific and yet, despite this clear evidence, Guam remains excluded from RECA, a program that was designed specifically to address the harm caused by our nation's own policies. "Guam is not asking for special treatment we are asking to be treated with dignity equal to the same recognition afforded to other downwind communities across our nation." Moylan said his constituents are dying from cancers linked to radiation exposure. From 1946 to 1962, 67 nuclear bombs were detonated in the Marshall Islands, just under 2000 kilometres from Guam. New Mexico Democratic congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernández supported Moylan, who said it was "sad Guam and other communities were not included". The RECA extension also excluded Colorado and Montana; Idaho was also for a time but this was amended. Celestial said he heard different rumours about why Guam was not included but nothing concrete. "A lot of excuses were saying that it's going to cost too much. You know, Guam is going to put a burden on finances." But Celestial said the cost estimate from the Congressional Budget Office for Guam to be included was US$560m where Idaho was $1.4b. "[Money] can't be the reason that Guam got kicked out because we're the lowest on the totem pole for the amount of money it's going to cost to get us through in the bill." The bill also extends to communities in certain zip codes in Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Alaska, who were exposed to nuclear waste. Celestial said it's taken those states 30 years to be recognised and expects Guam to be eventually paid. He said Moylan would likely now submit a standalone bill with the other states that were not included. If that fails, he said Guam could be included in nuclear compensation through the National Defense Authorization Act in December, which is for military financial support. The RECA extension includes uranium workers employed from 1 January 1942 to 31 December 1990.
