Month: July 2009

CONCERNS have been expressed about the safety of the county’s first ever motorway.

Councillor Johnny Flynn (FG) has written to the Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey (FF) asking him to direct the National Roads Authority to carry out a safety audit on the N18, before the speed limit is increased on almost 21 kilometres of the main Galway-Limerick road.

The Ennis councillor, who is a qualified civil engineer, said he was also drawing on his experience as a fire chief attending motor accidents when highlighting his concerns.

“Before making a final declaration on the speed limit, I am asking the minister to direct the NRA to carry out an audit on size and layout of the slip roads on the Ennis bypass. The signage also needs to be reconsid- ered,” he said.

Cllr Flynn that the lead-in to the Barefield and Tulla road slipways 1s not adequate for motorway speeds of €120 kilometres per hour. He said there should be adequate land take available to rectify this potential hazard. The councillor said the NRA

should also improve the signage on the dual carriageway to give motor- ists adequate notice of turn offs.

The Minister for Transport declared a total of 294km of national roads as new motorway sections to take af- fect on August 28. Among these new motorways is the N18 Oranmore to Limerick route.

The 12.5km of the Ennis bypass will be considered a motorway come the end of August, as will the 8.3 kil- ometre dual carriageway from Shan- non to Ennis. The Gort to Crusheen dual carriageway currently under construction will also be a motor- way, as will the Oranmore to Gort route currently in planning.

The designated speed of 120kph will apply to all newly declared mo- torway sections unless special speed limits are in operation. In addition, the new status will also serve to pro- tect the route against inappropriate development, including multiple ac- cess points, which would have road safety implications and affect the ef- ficiency and service life of the route.

DIU uMENy Delcam Na leRer OK nb ITO) elo ENIoer tions of these routes should note that until August 28, the current speed limit will apply.

THE Civil and Public Service union has warned it will not allow public services be damaged by any attempt to force through staff cuts and other changes on foot of the Bord Snip Nua report

The union, one of the largest in the public service warned that it would not accept any attempt by Govern- ment to force through staff cuts and other changes proposed in the report of the so-called Bord Snip Nua. The union said protecting the highest standards and availability of public services was “paramount and a core principle that could not be compro- mised”.

Noting the publication of the re- port, CPSU Deputy General Sec- retary, Eoin Ronayne said it would require further detailed analysis but stressed ’’we have always questioned the purpose and intent of the Bord, as these so-called ‘experts’ repre-

sent the failed recent economic past – consequently anything they have to say about our public services will not be likely to impress”.

He added, the union’s initial ex- amination of the report did little to dispel its concern that this would be a ‘slash and burn’ exercise. “There is past history here, we didn’t share the assessment of the original Bord Snip and it won’t be a surprise that we have yet to find anything in this which suggests our view will be any CUPS CoRo sl mneN Iman salem

Mr. Ronayne said that ultimately it would be up to Government and unions to work through the difficult weeks and months ahead and the CPSU expects “nothing less than the processing of any proposals by the employer through the normal indus- trial relations procedures.”

Meanwhile, SIPTU will hold a press conference in Liberty Hall to- morrow to give it’s “considered re- sponse” to the proposals.

“The recommendations of An Bord Snip Nua represent an exercise in fantasy,’ SIPTU General President Jack O’Connor said following the publication of the report. “In fairness to the group their terms of reference focused exclusively on reducing ex- penditure without regard to the eco- nomic and social implications, or the viability of alternative approaches.

This is graphically highlighted in that the Government’s own projec- tions envisage reductions of €1.5 bil- lion in current expenditure for 2010 and the same again in 2011, whereas this report recommends an incred- ible £5.3 billion. The Government’s targets are not achievable without the most severe measures. The recom- mendations of this report are entirely unworkable, unnecessary and down- right counter-productive.”

MEMBERS of Clare County Council were updated on progress of a review which could lay the foundations for Clare being one of the wind energy centres of Ireland.

The presentation on progress of the revised wind energy strategy for Clare was given by Ruth Minnogue of Minnogue and Associates, the consultants appointed by the council

to up-date the strategy.

Ms Minnogue told the meeting that in reviewing the existing strategy, one of the important aims Is to “iden- tify robust areas, which meet the re- quirements of wind energy genera- tion” where there is a good chance of obtaining planning permission for AUD u Oy EA oe

She told the council that while there are problems when it comes to connection to the grid as it is “ona

first come, first served basis, we are well placed in Clare having access to Moneypoint.”

In surveying the county, the con- sultants were putting various areas into one of four categories: strategic areas where there is a good likeli- hood of generating wind power, areas which are acceptable in principal, ar- eas which are open for consideration and areas where permission would not normally be possible.

Which category an area falls into would depend on a number of factors, including wind-speed, proximity to houses, geological and environmen- tal considerations and the archaeol- ogy of that area.

Councillors asked questions con- cerning various aspects of the review and concerning planning regula- tions.

After Slieve Aughty was mentioned in the presentation as a possible lo-

cation, Cllr Pat Hayes asked whether the review would look at individual townlands and was told it would not. Rather there would be an overview of an area as broadly suitable with each application still having to go through the planning process.

Councillors were also told that the review should be completed by this September and members were invit- ed to raise any issues with the con- Sultants.

CAOIMHIN Nolan, inspector with the EPA told the court that Chemi- floc’s licence specifies that the com- pany can emit treated waste gases to the atmosphere, in specified concen- trations and from a nominated stack.

After the company contacted the EPA to report the incident, Mr No- lan made a site visit and was told that the emission happened because the cooler which keeps the temperature down in water used to scrub gases had tripped out.

He told the court that having stud- ied a video clip and pictures taken of

the gas cloud, along with information about what process was going on at the plant at that time, he had con- cluded that the emission was one of Nitrogen Oxide.

“T studied the video in slow motion, frame by frame. It shows the plume (of gas) rising from ground level. This was an indication that smoke was being emitted from a source other than the stack,” he said.

The inspector said that the orange and red colour of the plume was typi- cal of that gas and he used the depth of the coloration to judge the concen- tration.

Under cross examination, Mr Nolan

agreed that the plume had dispersed without causing further incident. The court heard that the company had commissioned an independent report which estimated that the gas was present in a more dilute form than Mr Nolan had estimated.

The inspector agreed that the pros- ecution before the court referred to an alleged breach of the company’s licence with the EPA and not any breach of legislation.

He did not agree with counsel for the defence, who argued that there “can be no breach involved because no actual measurements (of the amount of gas emitted) were taken.”

A PLUME of coloured smoke ema- nating from a plant in Shannon prompted fears that it would lead to poisoning or an explosion and led to panic.

That was according to a garda, who attended Chemifloc, after reports that a plume of smoke was coming from the premises.

Garda Pat Keating told the trial that he received a call at around 5.25pm on May 24, 2007, suggesting that a lot of smoke was emanating from the Chemifloc premises. He was travel- ling from Ennis to Shannon at the time.

He arrived at the plant a short time later. “I could see heavy red/orange smoke bellowing from the plant. The smoke was coming out of a stack. It was very low. It was spreading to the Ballycasey residential area,’ Gda Keating told Ennis Circuit Court.

“IT was seven or eight miles from Shannon when I saw the smoke,” he added.

He said he went to the plant, where the gates were closed.

‘The smoke was thick. My primary concern was for the people that were around. I was genuinely very wor- ried. The kind of smoke’ we never saw anything like it before,’ he said.

He set up road blocks at the two main entrances to the estate. He told the jury he could remember the inci- dent very clearly.

‘People were coming up to me pan- icking. I didn’t smell anything. The colour of it was so unusual, I was fearful of poisoning or an explosion,” he said.

He said he got the all-clear at around 6.30pm and then lifted the road blocks.

Michael Kiely, a fire officer, also attended the scene that evening. He told the court that there was a “yel- low cloud over the plant”, which was travelling towards the town centre, “the residential side of Shannon.”

He said he spoke to one of the op- erators, in an effort to ascertain what was going on. “He said one of the

scrubbers had shut down and they were putting this material in to help neutralise it,’ he said.

He said the colour of the “cloud” later changed to clear. A number of witnesses who saw a plume of smoke that evening also gave evidence.

Michael O’ Sullivan, who was work- ing in an engineering plant in Smith- stown, said he saw smoke “pretty low down, it wasn’t very high.”

Darren Gardiner, a machine opera- tor in Shannon, said he was on his way home from work when he saw a plume of smoke.

“T could see that the plume of mus- tardy coloured smoke was emanating from a facility in the industrial estate. I couldn’t identify exactly which stack within the Chemifloc plant that it was emanating from,” he said.

He said there was no smell from it.

Another witness, Brendan Potter, who also works in Shannon, told the court he could see smoke coming out of Chemifloc. “The smoke was so thick you couldn’t actually see through it,” he said.

THE prosecution case in the trial of a Shannon company accused of breaching its licence is to conclude today.

Chemifloc Ltd, of Smithstown In- dustrial Estate, Shannon, is accused of failing to comply with the terms of an integrated pollution control li- cence granted to them by the Envi- ronmental Protection Agency, in that it caused or permitted emissions to the atmosphere contrary to the pro- visions of the licence, on May 24, 2007.

At the outset of the trial at Ennis Circuit Court, company director Hil- lary Lawless pleaded not guilty to Neem Du Mon

Opening the case to the jury, coun- sel for the State, Stephen Coughlan

BL, said that an integrated pollution control licence was issued to Chem1- floc on October 10, 2006 and it would be alleged that this was breached the following May.

‘There is no question of pollution in this case at all, nothing to do with the case. It is all to do with breach of a licence. The breach has to do with emission levels,’ he said.

“People working or on the estate saw a large deep red plume of smoke coming from the Chemifloc premis- es,” he said.

He said it would be alleged that the emission levels exceeded what was allowed under the licence. “The emissions were far higher, far great- er,’ he said.

TWO youths have pleaded guilty to a string of charges arising out of a spate of crime in east Clare and south Galway that culminated in a major search involving two dozen gardai.

A 17-year-old youth pleaded guilty to nine charges, while a 15-year-old boy pleaded guilty to eight charges, at Ennis Circuit Court last week, arising out of several incidents on April 30 last.

Both admitted burgling a business premises in Sixmilebridge and an- other premises in Quin. The two also admitted damaging a car by fire in Gort and stealing building items in

Sixmilebridge.

The 17-year-old also pleaded guilty to allowing himself to be carried in one stolen car in Limerick and an- other in Cratloe; unlawful possession of a car in Gort; and possession of a set of ignition keys with the intention that it be used in the course of an of- fence, at Meelick.

The 15-year-old admitted stealing a car in Limerick; allowing himself to be carried in a stolen car in Gort and unlawful possession of a car in Quin.

Sentencing in the case was ad- journed and Judge Sean O Donnab- hain directed that probation reports be carried out.

A COURT has heard allegations that a garda was set upon and struck to the face and head.

Arising out of the alleged incident, Alan Black, with an address at Ard na Mainistreach, Quin, is charged with assaulting a garda and public

order, at Shalee Drive, Cloughleigh, Ennis, on April 12 last.

Sergeant Joe Donoghue told En- nis District Court that a number of gardai were at the scene of an inci- dent in Cloughleigh.

He said it would be alleged that one of the gardai was “set upon by Mr Black and received blows from Mr

Black to the face and head.”

He said the garda had to be taken to hospital and is still undergoing treat- ment for his injuries.

Judge Joseph Mangan declined ju- risdiction of the case and it will now go forward to the circuit court. The case was adjourned for preparation of the book of evidence.

A YOUNG man who attacked a Supermarket manager in Shannon has been handed a three-year jail sentence, one year of which 1s sus- joer aXe Cereb

Dominic Hayes (18), of Inis Ealga, Shannon, admitted assaulting John Cleary at Dunnes Stores, SkyCourt, Shannon, on February 1, 2008.

Sergeant Michael O’Connell told Ennis Circuit Court yesterday that since this incident, Hayes has been

convicted of possession of drugs and assault, in the district court.

Hayes has spent the past month in prison, having been remanded in custody on this matter.

Defence Counsel Lorcan Connolly, BL, said his client did not enjoy the experience, but it afforded him the chance to “reflect” on things.

The court heard previously that Hayes has a violent temper and Mr Connolly said his client is willing to participate in an anger management programme.

Judge Carroll Moran said the ap- propriate sentence was a three-year term.

However, he suspended the final year.

He said he would have suspended the entire sentence if Hayes had stayed out of trouble and if he had co-operated with the probation serv- ice, adding “but that doesn’t arise”.

AN IRANIAN refugee who admit- ted stealing thousands of euro worth of jewellery from 23 homes in Ennis has been handed a suspended jail reese

In May, Ali Reza Velayati, (40), of Avondale, Kilrush Road, Ennis, pleaded guilty to 23 burglary charg- a

He admitted taking jewellery worth €53,020, along with cash — €1,280; $US5,500; £300 sterling and 140 Litas — a digital safe and sports bag, on various dates over a seven-week period between September 19 and November 8 last year.

When evidence was heard in the case last month, Judge Carroll Mo- ran warned the accused that he may face three years in jail. At Ennis Cir- cuit Court yesterday, Judge Moran said he was taking factors in the case into account in imposing a suspend- ed three-year sentence. He noted that Velayati has no previous convictions, co-operated with the probation serv- ices and that he suffers from depres- sion.

Defence counsel Lorcan Connolly BL told the court that his client has spent two spells in custody in rela- tion to this matter.

Judge Moran said that Velayati had “invaded on the privacy of 23 homes. It’s an intrusion into the private lives of people, even where the houses were unoccupied.” He said the ac- cused had packaged the jewellery “in a certain way which was quite unu- sual.”

He suspended the three-year jail term for three years and bound Ve- layati to the peace.

The homes were burgled in sev- eral parts of Ennis, including Col- lege Green, Abbey Court, Elm Park, Victoria Court, Odakpark, Bramble Lane, Inis Carraig, Gleni- na, Lifford, Tobartaoscain, Ard Aoi- bhinn, College Grove, Fergus Lawn,

St Senan’s Road, Cahercalla Estate, Glensheen, Ard na Greine, Clon Road and Shannon Park.

An investigation got underway af- ter gardai were receiving reports of burglaries on a daily basis.

The homes, which did not have alarms fitted, were targeted during the daytime. The houses were ran- sacked and jewellery and cash was taken. All of the houses were tech- nically examined, but no forensic

evidence was found. As the investi- gation continued, gardai were noti- fied about suspicious behaviour in the town on November 8&8, after two houses located close to each other were broken into. Two gardai, Ser- geant John Cunningham and Garda Cyril Page were involved in a chase, which culminated in the arrest of the accused in the garden of a home.

He was arrested but would not dis- close any information to gardai and

told them his name was Fred. However, the day after Velayati was arrested, his wife reported him miss- ing and through the identification photograph she brought to the garda station, his identity was established.