Month: October 2009

CLARE hoteliers yesterday called on the Government to take emergency action to salvage the county’s tour- ism sector, following the collapse in foreign visitor numbers this year.

According to figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) yesterday, the number of UK visi- tors travelling to Ireland has dropped by more than 24 per cent in just 12 months.

“The bottom has fallen out of the British tourist market, which is hav-

ing a significant impact on the tour- ism sector in Clare. Not a single meaningful action of substance has been taken by the Government to recover the situation,’ said Michael Vaughan, Chairman of the Shannon Branch of the Irish Hotels Federation Cists)

“The Government can no longer stand idly by and do nothing. We need imaginative solutions from our leaders and, in replying to a recent parliamentary question, Miu£inister Hanafin’s rejection out of hand of an IHF proposal to give free travel

to old age pensioners from the EU shows a reluctance to grasp the issue and adapt to new ways of thinking. It is no longer acceptable for the Gov- ernment to dismiss suggestions that could actually give Ireland a compet- itive advantage in attracting visitors from our main markets.”

Much of the blame for the collapse of the overseas tourism sectors 1s be- ing directed towards the controver- sial €10 travel tax introduced by the Government in March.

In an unprecedented show of unity, Ireland’s three largest airlines have

called for the Government to axe the €10 tourist tax. Christoph Mueller of Aer Lingus, Geoffrey O’Byrne-White of CityJet and Michael O’Leary of Ryanair have issued a joint statement aimed at forcing the Government to go back on the tax.

“The loss of 600,000 visitors so far this year confirms that the collapse in Irish tourism is accelerating as the €10 tourist tax makes Ireland an un- competitive tourist destination,’ said a Ryanair spokesperson. “In recent months the Belgian, Dutch, Greek and Spanish governments have all

scrapped tourist taxes and/or reduced airport charges, in some cases to zero, in order to stimulate tourism.”

Meanwhile, it was revealed yester- day that the Government has fallen short in the money they budgeted to get from the introduction of the travel tax.

From March 30 to August 31 some €57.9 million has been raised through the travel tax, prompting Clare TD Pat Breen (FG) to accuse the Government of scoring an “own goal” by persisting with the travel Fed @

SEVEN former members of Clare County Council, with public repre- sentation records ranging from five years to 35 years, were honoured by the local authority they once served at Aras Contae An Chlair, last week.

Among those honoured were two former mayors, a former chairman, and some of the longest serving members of the council, all of whom served their last term from 2004 to PAU OL

Special tribute was paid to the

former north Clare county council- lor, Martin Lafferty (Ind) who re- tired from the council following an NU Baten

His former colleagues were de- lighted to see him back in the cham- ber, in good spirits and at the end of his treatment.

The Lisdoonvarna man was a former schoolteacher, and first ran for Clare County Council in 1974 as a Labour candidate.

While former Cllr Lafferty began his political career as a Labour coun- cillor, in 1999 he contested the elec-

tion as an independent candidate and topped the poll. He remained one of the most outspoken Independent councillors in the chamber up to his retirement earlier this year.

He was one of four councillors to retire at the last election, along with former mayors Madeleine ‘Taylor Quinn (FG) and Flan Garvey (FF), and one of the council’s most col- ourful characters former east Clare councillor Colm Wiley (FF).

The other three councillors to make the bittersweet return to meet their former Clare County Councillor’s

colleagues and council staff were Peter Considine (FF), Bernard Han- rahan (FF) and Tony O’Brien (FF). The three men, all Fianna Fail councillors were unsuccessful in an election that saw the annihilation of the main Government party in the county council election in Clare. Missing from the line up of former councillors from the 2004 to 2009 era was Kilrush Town Councillor Tom Prendeville (FF) who lost his county council seat in June and John ‘““Mashen” McInerney (FG) who also experienced the disappointment of

losing a seat.

A NUMBER of Clare people have been among the victims of an on-line scam which gets its victims to hand over credit-card details on the prom- ise of a tax refund.

A record 83,000 emails offering fake tax refunds were reported to the UK Revenue authorities in Sep- tember. The attacks have continued this month, with an unprecedented 10,000 reports of the fraud made on one day alone.

The UK Revenue confirmed that they have received complaints from

Ireland about the emails and that a number of these have been from people in Clare, including one wom- an whose card details were used fraudulently.

The email tells the recipient they are due a tax refund and then asks for bank account or credit card de- tails. Anyone who gives these details to the fraudsters risks their bank ac- counts being emptied and credit cards maxed to their limit. The victim also risks having their personal details sold on to other criminal gangs.

The ACCA Ireland (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) is

also warning tax payers to not reply to the tax refund e-mails. “The UK tax authorities will not communicate with tax payers by e-mail and will not refund tax to a credit card or directly to a bank account based on filling out an on line form, this is a simple scam.” Aidan Clifford, ACCA’s Ad- visory Services Manager, said.

‘The web pages are very convinc- ing and professional looking. Expect any credit card or banks account de- tails supplied to be cleaned out with- in hours of responding”, he said.

Particularly at risk are people who were recently resident in the UK.

ONE of Clare’s true characters will be honoured this week when he re- ceives an honorary degree from NUI, Galway.

Br Sean McNamara is one of just five people who will be honoured in a special ceremony later this week alongside traditional musician Frankie Gavin, RTE’s Northern Edi- tor Tommie Gorman, Galway soccer legend Eamonn ‘Chick’ Deacy and Fr Raymond Browne.

The Christian Brother will receive the award for his lifelong active engagement in voluntary organisa- tions.

Born in Kilmurry McMahon in 1927, Br Sean began his teaching ca- reer in 1947. He taught in Clonmel, Colaiste Mhuire and Marino in Dub- lin, Drogheda, Monaghan, Trim and Ballinrobe from where he retired when the Christian Brothers pulled out of that town in 1990.

During his time as a teacher, and more especially upon retirement in 1990, Br Sean became well known for his active engagement in volun- tary organisations and his campaign- ing on behalf of a number of organi- sations in the media.

As well as this he also served at

various times as Chairperson of the National Garden Association of Ire- land, as Council Member of Trees for Ireland and he was also a founding member of the St Columba’s Garden- ing Club in Dublin.

Over the last two decades, Fr Sean has also enjoyed an amount of fame as an author. He has written a number

of books including

A JUDGE yesterday refused to con- firm the licence for a pub in Kilkishen after an elderly neighbour expressed concern about the noise emanating from it.

83-year-old Theresa Holahan, of Main Street, Kilkishen, objected to the confirmation of the licence to Brendan Hannon, who leases Glee- son’s public house, next door to where she lives. After she told the court that loud noise could be heard from the premises in the early hours of one morning, Judge Joseph Man- gan upheld the objection and did not confirm the licence to Mr Hannon.

Mrs Holahan told Ennis District Court that she has lived close to the pub for many decades. She first encountered problems in 2004 and 2005 and conditions were imposed, in court in 2005.

She said that those conditions were abided by initially, but the situation has changed in recent times.

“There is a lot of noise out the back and a lot of music,’ she told the court yesterday. Her solicitor Siobhan Mc- Mahon put it to her that one of the conditions imposed in 2005 was that a device to limit the noise would be put in place. Mrs Holahan said she was not aware whether this was used or not as it has been “quite noisy”.

Mrs Holahan said that she had to ring Mr Hannon at 2am a number of weeks ago as the noise was loud. This was due to a camogie team en- gaging in a sing-song, after they had won a county final.

“This is annoying me,” she told the court.

Ms McMahon said that her client “cannot be expected to make phone calls at 2 o’clock in the morning in relation to noise emanating from the premises.”

Solicitor for Mr Hannon, Stiofan Fitzpatrick said that his client has at all times acceded to all the requests made by Mrs Holahan. However Mrs Holahan said this was not the case.

Mr Fitzpatrick said that the noise limiting device has been in full working order. He said that the noise at the back of the premises was due to people smoking, but that people had to smoke somewhere. Mrs Hola- han replied, “I don’t care where they smoke as long as they don’t make LO) onl

Mr Hannon told the court that any time Mrs Holahan has contacted him about music, the issue has been rec- tified immediately. He said he took over the lease of the premises more than a year ago.

He said the noise limiter has been tested and is in full working order. However, while this works for bands

and music, it does not apply to sing- songs.

He told the court he accepted he was “100 per cent wrong” on the night of the camogie sing-song as things got on top of him and was under pressure at the time.

Mr Fitzpatrick said that Mr Hannon would give an undertaking to abide by the conditions.

The owner of the pub Noel Gleeson said that he was aware of the condi- tions, imposed in 2005, but he hadn’t received them in writing. The pub had been leased by two other indi- viduals at that time.

Asked did he tell Mr Hannon about the conditions, he replied, “No.”

A KILRUSH man pointed a screw- driver at a neighbour’s daughter, leading her to believe that he would cut her throat, it has been alleged in court.

Stephen Walsh Senior (59), of Pella Road, Kilrush, was accused of a pub- lic order offence, arising out of an in- cident near his home last January.

Garda Richard Burke told Ennisty- mon District Court that he received a complaint at Kilrush Garda Station from Catherine Wright. He subse- quently spoke to the defendant.

“Stephen Walsh was alleged to have pointed a screwdriver at her,” he said. He said the complainant al- leged that the defendant had taken a screwdriver from his pocket and pointed it at his throat, leading her to believe that he would cut her throat.

Defence solicitor Eugene O’Kelly put it to Garda Burke that several complaints have been made by the Wrights against the Walshes. Gda Burke replied, “I believe there were a number of complaints made but as to what they are, I have no idea.”

Ms Wright told the court that she had previously lived on Pella Road. She said that on January 28 last, she was outside her mother’s house on Pella Road. While there, she saw Stephen Walsh — who is a neighbour of her parents — at his car.

“Stephen Walsh spat towards my father on the ground. My concern was to get Dad in,” she said.

She said that the defendant then came from the left hand side of his car and took a screwdriver from his left pocket.

‘He faced towards me and pointed the screwdriver at himself and start- ed laughing,” she told the court.

She made reference to a previous in- cident, but was told by Judge Joseph

Mangan to confine her evidence to what had happened on January 28. She replied, “He pointed the screw- driver directly towards me, smiled, made a gesture towards himself and laughed. I was scared.”

In cross-examination of Ms Wright, Mr O’Kelly put it to her that her part- ner, who was there that day, was a

retired garda. She accepted that this was the case. Mr O’Kelly said, “He drove off. If you were that scared, would you not think he would have stayed?”

Mr O’Kelly said, “This event did not occur.” She replied, “I was there. It did happen.”

Ms Wright’s partner Joe Healy told

the court that he saw Stephen Walsh taking out a red-handled screwdriv- er. “He pointed it towards Catherine and pointed it back towards himself. Catherine was visibly shaken,” he Cr HLG

Mr O’Kelly put it to him that the in- cident did not happen and Mr Healy, a retired garda, replied, “This did

happen. . . 30 years taking the oath, I’m not in the habit of telling lies.”

Stephen Walsh told the court that he saw the Wrights pointing a cam- era phone at him, on the date in ques- tion. He denied spitting or making a gesture and said his priority that day was to fix a speaker in his car. “I didn’t do anything,” he said.

Under cross-examination by Su- perintendent Declan Mulcahy, the defendant said he was using a red Screwdriver to fix his car, but did not have the screwdriver in his pocket at any stage. “What she’s saying is hes,’ said the defendant.

Judge Joseph Mangan convicted the defendant. He heard that he has a number of previous convictions, dat- ing back several years.

Judge Mangan heard from Mr O’Kelly that the Walsh family has had a difficult time since the death of the defendant’s daughter in 2005.

The judge said, “This merits a cus- todial sentence. I’m not going to im- pose a custodial sentence today, but that is nothing to do with the merits or demerits. Ms Wright, twice in her evidence, veered away from the 28th. She was cautioned, yet she persisted. There is innocent inadvertence of a lay witness, but as the partner of an ex-garda, she should know a thing or two about crossing the line in mat- ters of evidence.”

He adjourned the case for a year and granted liberty to re-enter at 24 hours’ notice. “In the event of any further trouble, I think it’s fair to suppose it will take a great degree of persuasion to deter me from impos- ing a custodial sentence,” said the judge.

A NORTH Clare motorist left the scene of an accident because he was in a rush to get home to his elderly mother, who he cares for, a court has heard.

Raymond O’Loghlen (52), of Loughrask, Ballyvaughan, was con- victed of careless driving and failing to provide appropriate information, at Ballyconnoe, Lisdoonvarna, on September 29, 2008.

Superintendent Declan Mulcahy told Ennistymon District Court that a vehicle owned by the defendant was driven on the incorrect side of the road, on a stretch of road between Lisdoonvarna and Ballyvaughan.

‘An oncoming vehicle had to take action to avoid being struck. Howev- er, at the last minute, the defendant corrected himself and moved his car to the correct side of the road. An ac- cident occurred on his correct side of the road,” said Supt Mulcahy.

He said that the defendant provid-

ed some details, before leaving the scene. He said there was no indica- tion that speed had been involved.

Supt Mulcahy told the court that the injured party sustained injuries, including a suspected fractured col- lar bone and right hand.

The driver of the other car, Sean McDonagh, told the court that he was on his way home from work that evening. He said he noticed a car approaching him and the pas- senger wheel was on the white line. He braked. “My honest opinion was this guy was asleep at the wheel. As I went to go right, he must have woken up and the two of us collided in the middle of the road,” he said.

He said he got out of the car and spoke to the driver. He could not un- derstand what he was saying.

Mr McDonagh said he has since had an operation on his right hand and has suffered from numbness in his hands. Prior to the accident, he had endured back pain, but this has worsened since the crash.

“When I get up in the morning, you would think I was a man of about 100,” he said.

Defence solicitor Jenny Fitzgibbon put it to him that her client’s insur- ance company has admitted liability and the witness accepted this.

Ms Fitzgibbon said her client ap- preciated that he shouldn’t have left the scene, but he was 1n a rush home to his mother, who he cares for.

“He did try and communicate with Mr McDonagh. He admitted it was his fault. Mr McDonagh will be compensated for his injuries,’ said Ms Fitzgibbon. She said her client had taken sleeping tablets the previ- ous night and this may have affected him. She said her client needs his car to look after his mother.

Judge Joseph Mangan imposed fines totalling ©€450 and ordered O’Loghlen to pay €200 witness ex- penses.

A TENSE, volatile and hot-temper- ed atmosphere prevailed during an early-morning incident at the Match- making Festival in Lisdoonvarna, a court has heard.

Arising out of an incident during the festival last year, Fergal Ney- lon, of Laghtagoona, Corofin, was charged under the Public Order Act.

Garda Sean Buckley told Ennisty- mon District Court that a large group of people were involved in an alterca- tion, on September 27, 2008. One of those, the accused, was not clothed from the waist upwards and there was blood on his face and chest.

“T asked him what happened. He was reluctant to tell me. He had a cut above his eye. There was a lot of blood on his face and chest. He kept saying, “He’s going to get it.’ I took that as looking for a fight from another member of the public,” said Garda Buckley.

The garda told Mr Neylon that if he was found acting in a similar manner again, he would be arrested and he was directed to leave the area.

It was broken up and the garda said that a short time later, he spotted Mr Eure

“He appeared to be intoxicated. He was being restrained by a group of his friends. He was taken across the road outside the car park. He was shouting in towards the car park,’ he said.

““T believe if this continued, another fight would have occurred. The at- mosphere that night was very hot- tempered,’ said the garda. He said he arrested Mr Neylon at 3.05am. “He was highly intoxicated and he was acting in a manner that was threat- ening towards other members of the public,” he said.

Defence solicitor Eugene O’Kelly, however, said his client would “dis- pute completely” what the garda had said. The court was told that three men were arrested that night and Mr O’Kelly submitted, “I believe he (the garda) has mistakenly identified my client. It seems that two other people came to the attention of the gardai.” However, Gda Buckley said, “There

was no mistake as to the identity of either man. . .There is no dispute whatsoever as to who Mr Neylon ior

Detective Superintendent Gabriel O’Gara, who was also at the scene that night, said, “There was a lot of to-ing and fro-ing” in the car park.” He said his attention was drawn to the accused, who, he said, “had blood on him and was highly intoxicated and highly agitated”.

“It was very tense. It was very vola-

tile. A large number of males present were all very intoxicated,’ he said. He said from his observations, Mr Neylon’s intention “appeared to be to breach the peace and also to entice others to get involved. . .He remind- ed me of a person you would see out on a Saturday night, highly intox1- cated, shirt off, chest out, blood all over him. This was the man who was going to solve everyone’s problems.” Fergal Neylon told the court that he had not consumed a lot of alcohol

that night. He said that after he left the Hydro hotel, he had been struck and knocked to the ground, where he had been kicked and beaten. He said he told Garda Buckley that he had been beaten up and he was directed to leave the area.

““T was obviously agitated and prob- ably concussed from being kicked. I had no top on because it had been pulled off me while I was on the ground being beaten,’ he said.

‘“T was agitated with the guards for

being arrested, because I was the victim of an assault, but I was not ag- gressive,’ he added. He denied that he was highly intoxicated.

After hearing the case, Judge Joseph Mangan said he would have to consider the evidence and adjourned making a ruling until next month.

ONE of Clare’s longest established hotels is taking the lead in the in- formation age by being the first in Munster to launch an online wed- ding service which will prove a ma- jor money saver for couples planning their wedding

The four star Armada Hotel is of- fering the award winning Moposa software to its clients free of charge. And it reckons that the service can save couples over €/00 from the outset – a welcome bonus in the cur- rent climate.

The Moposa softare helps couples share more of the experience with friends and family, simplify the wed- ding planning process and save time and money along the way.

‘“Moposa will be of huge benefit as a communication tool and we look forward to seeing the benefits for our wedding couples,” said Saurabh Jain, Wedding Co-ordinator for the Armada Hotel.

Moposa was developed by Irish technology company Eventovate Ltd which was founded by brothers Jonathan and Jason Ruane who have extensive experience in software and business development.

“The objective of Moposa is to re- lieve the stress of planning a wed- ding so couples can focus on enjoy- ing every moment of the experience. The online service assists with eve- rything from the invitation lists, gift lists, budget, schedules and the all important seating planner and also increases communication between the hotel, couple and guests,” said Saurabh Jain. “Guests can also regis- ter online and RSVP directly, book a room in the hotel as well as check out weather forecasts and even get auto- mated, personalised driving direc- tions to the ceremony and reception.

“Couples receive their own per- sonal *.com’ wedding website so that their friends and family can share the wedding experience before and after the wedding day.

“We all love photos and Moposa allows guests to upload their photos and videos after the wedding so that the couple can view the many differ- ent pics taken from early on the day to late in the night. Another fantastic tool is Guestxt where couples may send free text messages to any or all of the guests and can use this to plan and organise a hen party or just to thank everyone for their presents the CPA VAR MEO ACORN. (x6 (ODD NTCMMMNOY- LUD EA] Oo. plained.

The Moposa launch takes place at the Armada Hotel this Friday, Octo- ber 23, at 7pm and all future brides and grooms are welcome to attend. Event partner Fun Ireland will also be on hand to ensure that everyone enjoys a free fun casino evening. For further details, contact Saurabh on Uc Or Teer er

THE bigger the challenge, the more it seems that this Clonlara side thrive on the occasion as this latest battling performance will testify to. If last year’s county final was a fairytale ride of momentum and an unique team spirit, Sunday’s display cer- tainly surpassed that achievement and proved to their doubters that Clonlara are now a major force in Clare hurling.

Still, there were significant corre- lations to last year’s decider. Again, Clonlara’s big names all stepped up to the plate when it mattered most Whereas Newmarket’s were again conspicuous by their absense and that belly for the battle or indeed lack of was ultimately the difference, despite the south east Clare side being a man down for 35 minutes of this game af- ter John Barry’s first-half dismissal.

More than that though, Newmarket simply demonstrated that they had learned very little from last year. The first sign of fear came with their po- sitional choice of James McInerney to curb John Conlon on the wing, instead of at centre-back where he had been instrumental all year. In addition, the Blues never appeared settled, magnified by the fact that almost every outfield player was switched from his original position by the end of the hour. Their choice of free-takers at times looked un- planned while the use of the extra man was never utilised to the fullest, especially from puck-outs.

Instead, they continued to pum- mel high balls into their non-func- tioning half-forward line that Clon- lara’s huge performers Domhnall O’Donovan, Tomas O’Donovan and Nicky O’Connell lapped up with welcoming ease.

However, Newmarket’s §frailities should not deflect from an outstand- ing, gritty display from the defending champions in what was undoubtedly their most satisfying game to date. A motivated Newmarket came out with all guns blazing in an attempt to ruffle their feathers but Clonlara stood firm and weathered the early storm with little fuss through Cor- mac O’Donovan (2), John Conlon, Nicky O’Connell and Tommy Lynch to open up a O-5 to 0-1 advantage.

This was shaping up to be a fero- cious battle with neither side wilting in the tackle and while the hurling wasn’t of the highest standard early on, it was still utterly compelling SAUUee

Misfiring Newmarket took 27 minutes to add to Colin Ryan’s first minute free but they got a signifi- cant boost when John Barry received his second yellow for a wild pull on Enda Barrett and they soon added their first point from play through David Barrett in the 31st minute.

There was still more drama to come before the sides would retire for the interval as Darach Honan got his first real opportunity to take on the New- market defence but was taken down as he was about to unload for goal, only to eventually claim his first score right on the stroke of half-time

to leave the score 0-6 to O-3.

Having had time to regroup and plan how to effectively use the spare man (James McInerney moved to midfield while Eoin Hayes was the extra man behind the half-back line), Newmarket re-emerged with renewed vigour and in fact, dismantled Clon- lara’s advantage within 90 seconds through Gaffney, Shane O’Brien and Sean Arthur.

In what was their most assertive period of the game, Newmarket then cancelled out a Nicky O’Connell free through substitute Michael MclIn- erney and with only three minutes

gone and the advantage of an extra man, the momentum was now with the Blues.

However, Clonlara have proved throughout their three year succes- sion of highs that they are not ones to back down from a challenge. They duly replied like champions, grab- bing three points in as many minutes, two from substitute William Slattery to reopen a three point advantage.

The decisive score came five min- utes later. It was a goal worthy of winning any game as a quick free from Ger O’Connell picked out brother Nicky who produced a mo-

ment of magic to dummy Martin Murphy before launching a long clearance into Donal Madden who blasted to the net.

Clonlara were now firmly back on top and hit home that advan- tage through Madden (2), Nicky O’Connell and the inspirational Cor- mac O’Donovan to push them 1-14 to O-8 ahead by the 55th minute.

Newmarket’s total collapse was alarming but they simply had no reply to Clonlara’s drive. With the champions half-back line dominat- ing, led by ball magnet Domhnall O’Donovan, it was only a matter of

seeing out the remaining minutes.

Newmarket did produce a late rally, with a Colin Ryan free followed by a scrappy goal from substitute Enda Kelly, but instead of lying down, Clonlara almost secured a goal of their own. Successive shots from John Conlon and Donal Madden were somehow scrambled away by the Newmarket rearguard at the ex- pense of a red card for Padraig Kil- nerVM BOE

The crowd numbers may have not been the same but there was still sig- nificant celebrations from the Clon- lara contingent once the final whistle eventually blew. Not only had they seen off chief rivals Newmarket to reach their second successive senior final but the sheer character of the performance will now surely give them the plaudits they so richly de- serve. Nothing has been won yet of course but this was certainly the most significant day of the 2009 championship to date. A day that this young Clonlara side proved to everyone that they are still the side to beat in the championship and are not about to let their title go without an almighty battle.