Month: April 2007

NEWMARKET Celtic have saluted a local stalwart that has been with the club through good times and bad.

For years Paddy Shanagher spent every moment of his spare time tak- ing care of the old Newmarket Celtic pitch with great care and commit- ment in all sorts of weather.

Every club has people like Paddy. Men who work tirelessly behind the scenes, often without recognition for their efforts.

He could often be seen early morn- ing or late at night working away pre-

paring for the fixtures for the coming weekend.

With the famous old hill there was always was hard work to be done. This job was often carried out in poor weather conditions making it near impossible. But Paddy never failed to deliver a top class job.

And when the work was done, Paddy could be seen on the sidelines cheering on Newmarket teams from schoolboys up to juniors.

Last Sunday was a day to remem- ber for the club and for Paddy in par- ticular. Goalkeeping legend Packie Bonner and FAI Chief Executive

John Delaney were in town to of- ficially open the newly developed McDonough Park. It marked New- market’s return home and none were prouder than Paddy.

The old place has been given a facelift. The famous hill so long a eraveyard for the ambition of visiting teams down the years is gone.

In its place are two full size pitches and a training area. The clubhouse, which was opened 17 years ago, has also been fully refurbished. In total €300,000 was invested in the pro- eau beauentee

Some things don’t change though.

Paddy is still as committed as ever to his role with the club.

Club member Brian Cronin paid tribute to Paddy,

“Because of everything he has done, the former players and com- mittee of Newmarket Celtic are in- debted to Paddy Shanagher’s com- mitment down the years.”

SECONDARY school students in Shannon have benefited from the de- livery of a personal and social devel- opment programme, which has been offered by the local youth service.

Youth workers Cathal Dillon and Thomas O’Hara have linked in with students at both St Caimin’s and St Patrick’s Comprehensive School in the town, in offering the pro- eramme.

The twelve-week programme 1s Open to non-examination year stu- dents, and runs for an hour, once a week.

In all, 20 young people from Shan- non will complete the programme,

which deals with topics including family, friends, authority, loneliness and communication.

The programme offers young peo- ple opportunities to discuss and ex- plore issues, that are important to them. It is carefully designed to assist the young people in their personal and social development, by discuss- ing topics of importance to them such as relationships, friendship and trust. This also helps them to enhance their communication skills and build their self-confidence.

On completion of the programme, the young people will receive certifi- cates at an assembly where parents are invited to go along and experi- ence a taste of the programme for

themselves and see the presentations designed by each group also.

Youth worker Cathal Dillon said the group is working well together and everyone is enjoying the pro- eramme.

“The group work together bound by a contract which they come up with with the tutor at the beginning. They share their experiences and thoughts on the topics at their own level. There is no pressure put on people. Over the weeks the group gel together and trust and friendship is built up and com- munication improves. This allows the eroup to feel comfortable and speak freely about topics such as friendship and loneliness, towards the end of the program. The group also get the op-

portunity to question two visitors to the group. The first visitor 1s a youth worker and the second someone who works with people who may be lone- ly. This gives them an opportunity to enhance their communication skills and see how they react to meeting new people,’ he said.

“The whole thing is enjoyable and interesting. I’ve got to know some of the people from my school much better. One thing I think everyone thinks is how the exercises put per- sonal life into a different perspective, which can be very informing. I think everyone enjoys it and I’m definitely glad I chose to try it,” said student Garry McKee, who is taking part in the project.

A RESIDENTS Association in Shannon is proposing that a skat- ing rink, bowling alley, cinema and community centre be built in the Oyaee

Members of the Cronan Residents Association are calling for politi- cians to support their plan, which, they say will benefit the young people of the town, who they ar- gue, currently have few pastime

options.

Chairman of the Residents group, Jim Duffy says the young people of Shannon have nowhere to socialise, and this must be addressed.

“We met Tony Killeen (junior minister) and we put forward a list of issues. We felt that he, as a min- ister Should address this,” he said.

He said that residents are hopeful of meeting Minister Killeen again over the next fortnight, to again ad- dress the issue.

“These are facilities that most towns have. Where do the 14 – 18 year olds in Shannon go? They have nowhere to go,” he said.

“It would be tremendous if we get two out of the four facilities,’ he rn em

“Let’s start planning it. The job of politicians is to pursue it. We need to get the land and money. There is plenty of land in Shannon. The GSCeh orm sbeelesel mm KM COVUBDOTSMRU NMEA elos Roms Km: lot of money in Ireland. Why not

give it to Shannon? We would in- tend to meet all politicians on this issue,’ said Mr Duffy.

He said that while locals in his housing estate, Cronan, are happy with progress made on issues relat- ing to footpaths, lights and litter bins, one other outstanding issue is causing huge concern.

“We also want answers relating to the availability of the ambulance in Shannon. It still isn’t here,’ said Mr Duffy.

A GROUP of people living in a housing estate in Shannon have ac- cused their local Residents Associa- tion of failing to be democratic and has asked the town council to refuse to make grants available to it.

In a letter addressed to Shannon Town Council and signed by 21 Cro- nan residents, it 1s claimed that the Cronan Residents Association 1s not representative and does not hold public meetings.

Those who signed the letter stated that several people living in Cronan have endeavoured to join the com- mittee, but have been refused entry. They say that they have called for an AGM, on several occasions, but this

request was not granted.

“We would feel Cronan deserves a residents committee that engages with the issues in our area 1n a posi- tive manner,’ stated the letter.

“We can only assume that the com- mittee does not want other residents to have a say in their area,’ added the letter.

The letter also stated that the group has not produced financial state- ments. “It is not our aim to allege financial impropriety, but we believe that a Residents Association com- mittee should be seen to operate in an open and honest manner in all matters,’ it stated.

“We request that you refuse this committee, of the Cronan Residents Association, further funds or grants

until this committee submits a fi- nancial report to an Annual General Meeting of an open and accountable Cronan Residents Association,’ it added.

Following receipt of the letter, Shannon Town Clerk Tomas Mac Cormaic wrote to the Chairman of the Residents Association, Jim Duffy.

He has asked him to furnish the council with minutes of the AGM, showing that the officers have been democratically elected. He has also requested a financial statement which has been adopted by the members.

“It would also be helpful if the council could be informed of the method used to notify residents of the time and place of the general

meeting and if the council could be given a list of the members showing that the association is representative of the majority of residents in the Cronan estates,” said the town clerk, in the letter.

The Chairman of the Residents As- sociation Jim Duffy told

KILLALOE and O’Briensbridge are the next two areas in east Clare which will benefit from the local authority’s cash for playgrounds scheme.

Clare County Council has set aside ۤ3,000 for the two areas, both of which had applied for grant funding under the scheme.

A meeting of Killaloe area council- lors was told last week that the prob- lems which have dogged the grant- ing of planning permission for play facilities in Parteen and Meelick are Aledo Ob

Planners met with the developers to discuss concerns about public light- ing and other matters.

The councillors were told that both schemes can now move ahead and it’s expected that work should begin be- fore the end of June.

The meeting heard that proposed sites had been identified in both ar- eas. Area engineer, Sean Lenihan, said that there is “strong community support” behind each proposal, with a local group pushing for the facility.

Killaloe councillor, Tony O’Brien, said that the “two projects are com- mendable. It’s great to see _ that communities are willing to be- come involved and undertake these projects”.

Councillors were asked how they wanted the available money divided. Cllr Pascal Fitzgerald said that it

should be given equally to both com- munities.

But, he added, he would “like to see the planners meeting with the developers and getting it right from the start, unlike Meelick and Parteen and one and a half years on, there are still no playgrounds in these areas”.

Community and Enterprise Admin- istrative Officer, Catherine O’Hara, said that the local authority is en- couraging all community groups to ebgage in the pre-planning process.”

She added that the grant, while it assists communities to provide fa- cilities, “never covers the entire cost which is usually more in the region of €120,000. It’s just a contribution towards it”.

Cllr O’Brien asked that should one or other of the groups being unable to draw down the grant, because of something unforseen such as a site falling through, that the money should then go to the remaining eroup and not out of the area.

The planning stumbling blocks holding the Parteen and Meelick fa- cilities back were resolved last week at a meeting organised by local coun- cillor, Pascal Fitzgerald, between planners and members of the two Loy eaveenlAKoieky

Almost €500,000 a year is divided between six electoral areas in the county and nine playground develop- ments are due to be part funded this yeasr from the 2006 grants scheme.

PUMPS which would help solve the drought being experienced by Killa- loe residents have yet to be hooked up because there are technical prob- lems with the power supply needed.

Local councillors were told that after years of difficultites in getting water suppies to either end of the town and to homes up Convent Hill, new pumps have been bought which would bring water as required.

But the positioning of the pumps

was incorrect for linking them up to the necessary power supply, Sean Lenihan of the council’s engineering department told Killaloe council- lors.

Cllr. Tony O’Brien expressed con- cern that there are “a number of new housing developments coming on-stream in Killaloe and we are brining them on without address- ing what is a major deficiency in our infrastructure. People living in the town have no water. It is incumbent on Clare Councty Council to supply

water and the council needs to pro- vide the pumps which were prom- ised in 2005”.

The engineer told councillors that it is “just a logistical problem with getting the electricity connected up. We have to take some responsibil- ity in that the location given to the ESB may have been slightly in error. They are looking at it and coming back to us”.

Meanwhile, the members of the Killaloe area council were told at a meeting last week that the authori-

ties are to look again at the timing of the traffic lights in Killaloe.

Councillors complained that there were massive tailbacks and delays over the May and Easter bank holli- day weekends.

Officials told the members that what is needed in the long run to solve the town’s traffic problems is for the new bridge to be built. The problem is the volume of traffic and at the lights, the number of move- ments that have to be catered for, councillors heard.

A CROSS which has been the loca- tion of numerous accidents is to be tackled — but the necessary safety measures will not be up for funding until next year.

Councillor John McInerney had put a motion before the the Killaloe area committee asking that something be done to reduce the dangers at Clancy’s Cross.

He told the meeting he was “not happy’ with the rate of progress on

the matter.

“IT put a motion down about this as far back as 2004 and myself and Councillor Pascal Fitzgerald organ- ised a protest at this location in De- cember. Why is the lining only going down now? It should have been done since 2005. At this rate it will be 2008 before anything is done.”

The councillor told the meeting that there have been “numerous accidents at this site — are we to have a serious accident before something is done?”’

Councillor Pascal Fitzgerald de-

scribed the cross as a “blackspot. There has been another accident there this year and I’m concerned that there will be a very serious crash”.

Senior Engineer, Sean Lenihan, told the meeting that a scheme of safety measures will be designed this year and put in for funding next year.

He said that enquiries to the gardai showed they supported the council- lors claims that the cross has been the scene of many accidents.

‘Everyone is of the same mind on- this one,” he said.

He also told members that the road design office “is under serious pres- sure but | am pushing this one as a priority. All of the measures that might improve matters of safety will be looked at and considered,’ he Sr HKGe

He added that in terms of putting lining on the road, a meeting is being held with the contractor this week.

The senior engineer added _ that sometimes it is “easier to get funding for a project than to fit a small job in but I will do all I can to get it done”’.

in response to a Freedom of Information request show that the gardai concerned received €478,000 — an average pay out of €23,900 each.

The single greatest generator of overtime payments was the opera- tion at Shannon Airport last year to prevent any further incursions the Department of Justice stated that

the bill for the Shannon operation was €1.25 million.

“It 1s most unfortunate that there is a large amount of gardai tied up on duty in Shannon because of a few people who have made threats over the security of the airport,” said Councillor Madeleine Taylor-Quinn GaCoF

“These gardai would be far better used on the highways and byways of OFT ione

Cllr Taylor-Quinn said that the high overtime payments resulted from the failure of the current Gov- ernment to recruit the promised ad- ditional gardai for the force.

“It would be far more prudent to recruit the additional gardai rather than be paying out these sums in overtime,’ she said.

Nationally, the Government paid out over €100 million in overtime. The €102.6 million overtime bill in 2006 represents a 32 per cent in- crease on the €77 million spent on Garda overtime in 2005.

Operation Anvil last year led to sig- nificant overtime costs, according to a Department of Justice spokesman. The operation commenced in Dub- lin in May 2005 and was rolled out across the country in January 2006 targeting gun culture.

“Operation Anvil has been highly successful,” he said.

In Dublin, the operation resulted in 54,526 checkpoints; 6,250 arrests in connection with murder, seri- ous assaults, burglary, robbery and other serious offences; 26,497 drug searches; 1,543 firearms searches; 643 firearms seized or recovered; 10,520 vehicles seized and stolen property to the value of €17.2 mil- lion recovered.

A Garda’s payscale goes from €24,551 to €44,116 after 17 years service; a sergeant’s salary scales from €44,543 to €51,281, while an inspector can earn from €51,571 to

A NUMBER of barristers operating in the Clare and Limerick area were among the top earners in the €15.7 million paid out through the Crim1- nal Legal Aid Scheme last year.

Figures showed that Brian MclIn- erney BL, who carries out much of his work in the Limerick and Ennis Circuit Court, was once more the top earner in the region.

The figures were released by the Department of Justice in response to a Freedom of Information request.

Mr McInerney was the _ high- est earning barrister-at-law in the

country last year and was the fourth top earning barrister overall when he received €330,103.

Well-known senior counsel, Brendan Nix, figured at 15 in the overall list after receiving €187,932.

Other barristers operating in the Clare-Limerick area to feature high- ly on the list included Mark Nicho- las BL who received €169,629; John Edwards SC €149,382 and Michael Fitzgibbon who received €39,673.

The figures also showed that Lor- can Connolly BL last year received €25,494 and Pat Whyms BL re- ceived €17,325.

The amounts are gross figures with VAT included and do not include the income the barristers would earn from civil legal work or work in the criminal court for clients who do not qualify for legal aid.

Barristers rarely operate in the district court and the vast majority of their work is carried out in the higher courts.

In Clare, the circuit court sits four times a year in Ennis, while it also sits in Kilrush during each session.

County Clare is located in the South-western Circuit, which also includes Limerick and Kerry. The presiding judge in the South-west-

ern Circuit is Judge Carroll Moran.

The table also shows that the bar- rister who has defended Ennistymon man Patrick O’ Dwyer, Patrick Gage- by SC, received €140,112 last year.

Nationally, the senior counsel to receive the top amount were Brendan Grehan who _ received €462,099, Michael O’Higgins who received €380,099, Isobel Kennedy who received €339,103 and Luigi Rea who received €319,953.

The tables also show that Martin Giblin SC received €305,701, while Anthony Sammon SC received €284,631 and Roderick F O’Hanlon SC received €279,174.

PATRICK Joseph O’Dwyer was born on July 3, 1985. He was the sec- ond-born child of Paddy and Claire O’ Dwyer, a factory worker and bank official, respectively. His older sister Louise is a graduate of NUI Galway and his young sister Marguerite was studying for her Leaving Certificate at the time of her killing.

Patrick obtained 395 points in his Leaving Certificate, at Ennistymon CBS in 2003.

This secured him a place in Civil Engineering at Galway Mayo In- stitute of Technology. He moved to Galway and stayed in student accom- modation with two other young men from Mayo. However, he dropped out of college that Christmas and re- turned to his home town.

“I did not enjoy my time up in Gal- way. I wanted to get out of there,” he told gardai.

He had previously worked part- time as a labourer, a golf club cad-

die and took up weekend work at the Atlantic Hotel and Coast nightclub in Bseeen

After dropping out of college, he be- gan working with his father at Tyco, Shannon. In June 2004, he took up an apprenticeship as a butcher with Bernard Roughan in Ennistymon. He earned €230 a week and contin- ued to work there, until the killing of his sister.

He enjoyed this work and Mr Roughan told the trial that Patrick was “a great worker,’ “got on well with everyone” and appeared happy on the day of the killing. He planned to open his own butcher’s shop, some WU Seto UOMBO CM RUIADDKoM

“Marguerite had called in often to talk to him. They got on well. He would often give her cigarettes,” he ene m

Patrick had a huge interest in sport and played football and hurling, un- derage, with Ennistymon.

He had a number of friends, mainly from Ennistymon and Inagh, and had

AISA AEc DUDE TOI OTOL

“A few, nothing long-term. They cost a lot of money,” he said, during an interview with gardai.

He had his first drink prior to his 16th birthday and said he would feel “bad” the day after he drank shots or (ere <2 He dabbled in drugs whilst in col- lege. “Hash. When I was in college. Maybe once a week, twice a week,’ he said. The trial heard several incidents which showed that alcohol was his downfall. He enjoyed a good rela- tionship with his parents, the odd ex- ception being a row over drink. On one occasion, in January 2004, he asked an English woman in her 40s for a kiss on the street. She rejected his advances and he hit her and bit her fingers. He was acutely drunk at the time. On another occasion, he became ageressive with his father, after he spoke to him about his drunken be- haviour at a family wedding.