This article is from page 7 of the 2005-11-15 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 7 JPG
A 24-YEAR-old Cooraclare man has been charged with the murder of Ann Walsh, whose body was discovered in the grounds of a church in Kilrush in August. Raymond Donovan, of New Houses, Cooraclare, was charged with murder last Friday.
Gda Michael Ryan told Ennis District Court that he formally arrested and charged Dono- van with the murder of Ms Walsh, contrary to common law, at Toler Street, Kilrush, on Au- gust 24.
In reply to the charge, the accused said, “I didn’t mean to do it”. He agreed that he under- stood the charge and caution.
Donovan had previously been charged with intentionally or recklessly causing harm to the
23-year-old woman, on the same date. Judge Leo Malone withdrew that charge on the re- quest of Inspector Kevin Moynihan.
Donovan, who was making his seventh court appearance in connection with the death of Ms Walsh, a native of Pella Road in Kilrush, was remanded in custody.
He will reappear again in court tomorrow (Wednesday).
But his trial will not go ahead until late next year at the earliest. There is currently a ten- month waiting list for murder trials at the Cen- tral Criminal Court in Dublin, although this is significantly shorter than had been the case in the past.
A spokesman for the Courts Service told