Month: September 2011

A SIGNIFICANT increase in demand for support by victims of domestic abuse forms the backdrop to a new initiative which provides additional support.

Clare Haven, which supports female victims of domestic abuse and their families, has set up a free and confidential service, entitled ‘Walk the Talk’ programme.

The programme supports victims of abuse by equipping them with the necessary skills to move on with their lives. There is a particular focus on personal development and confidence building through accessing education, training and employ- ment.

The programme was operated for the first time in Clare earlier this year and the positive feedback it generated prompted it to be run again between now and Christmas.

It emerged earlier this year that the number of families seeking help from Clare Haven doubled, compared to last year. The outreach clinics which run in Ennis, Ennistymon, Scariff, Kilrush and Killaloe have also shown an increase in demand among clients.

The co-ordinator of the ‘Walk the Talk’ programme, Pauline Bradley, said it gives families the confidence to move on with their lives.

“It gives people the life skills to move forward from abuse and to achieve goals,” said Pauline.

“The aim of the programme is we form a bridge between getting people from a place where their confidence and self-esteem is low. We bridge that gap by looking at possibilities in relation to education and training,” she added.

“The end result is we would hope that women would carve out a career niche for themselves and be less likely to be victimised again. It has been very successful (earlier this year),” she said.

Clare Haven has set up links with a range of organisations and this connection benefits those who attend.

“We have links to other organisa- tions like FÁS and the Clare Adult Guidance Centre who come and talk about other opportunities for training,” said Pauline.

Help has been provided in putting together CVs and preparing participants for interview, in an effort to help them progress with their lives.

Day trips to a life balance centre in Corofin and personal development sessions also form part of the course.

The course earlier this year featured 30 sessions over six months and the forthcoming programme will be more condensed, with 20 sessions taking place over three months.

Fifteen women completed the programme earlier this year and attend- ed once a week.

According to Ms Bradley, some 70 per cent of participants have embraced the idea of pursuing further training after taking part in this programme.

“Some of them would have been qualified but wouldn’t have had the confidence. Some of them are now looking at setting up their own businesses,” said Pauline.

The programme is funded under Ireland’s EU Structural Funds Programme 2007 – 2013. It incorporates group work and individual sessions. There are 15 places available. Anyone interested in taking part in the programme should phone Clare Haven on 065 6842646.

RESIDENTS and business people across Clare are being urged to engage with a campaign aimed at promoting safer communities.

The week-long ‘Supporting Safer Communities’ campaign, initiated by gardaí, is aimed at reducing the fear of crime and also to increase the level of road safety in general.

The crime prevention officer in the Clare Garda Division Sergeant Joe Downey is responsible for ensuring the campaign rolls out in the county over the next week.

He told The Clare People that vigilance is essential if crime rates are to be curbed. Several homes and businesses across the county have been targeted by burglars in recent months and gardaí are keen to encourage people to get involved in business watch and neighbourhood watch programmes.

“Burglaries are on the increase. People need to pay more attention to their homes,” said Sgt Downey.

“When selecting a target, the burglar assesses how easily they can enter a house. They look for houses with weakened entry points, where the residents are careless about security and houses with few or no security devices,” he added.

“Research shows most burglars tend not to target occupied homes. They look out for cues such as lights on or cars in driveways. Houses at risk include those vacant for extended periods,” he added.

He said that neighbours should keep an eye out for each other, in an effort to ensure they are safe.

Among the recommendations from gardaí include improving home security; getting into a routine of locking all doors and windows before going to bed; turning on the alarm; storing valuables in secure locations and en- suring large amounts of cash are not stored at home.

“One of the best security devices is your neighbour. Leave your spare key with a trusted neighbour who can also keep an eye on your house when you are away. Avoid hiding a spare key under a mat or other hiding spot,” said Sgt Downey.

During the campaign, there will also be a focus on road safety. Gardaí will focus on the main issues that they come across on the roads – speed, drink driving, non-wearing of seat belts and the use of mobile phones while driving.

Gardaí are appealing to farmers and contractors using machinery on roads to take care over the coming months when the days are shorter and busy periods loom on farms.

Anyone requiring further information on this initiative, which runs until next Tuesday, should contact Ennis Garda Station on 065 6848100.

THERE is “no suggestion of any transfer of ownership” in a proposal to transfer responsibility for maintenance of Place St Paul de Fenouillet from Ennis Town Counci l to the Temple Gate Hotel, a meeting has heard.

Town clerk Eddie Power made the comment as council lors discussed a repor t on the cour tyard which is located between t he Hotel and the tourist office / Count y Museum Building.

Speaking yesterday, Paul Madden, Managing Di rector of the Temple Gate Hotel, confir med that preliminar y discussions had taken place with the Council regarding maintenance of the cour tyard.

Mr Madden said he did not wish to comment fur t her on t he matter.

In a repor t to counci llors, Mr Power stated, “Preliminar y discussions have taken place with the Temple Gate Hotel. From the hotel management perspective t he appearance of Place St Paul de Fenouillet has the potential to enhance t he appearance of the hotel and have a positive i mpact on business and customers.”

He continued, “It is proposed to enter into fur ther discussions with Temple Gate Hotel to conclude an ar rangement whereby the maintenance of Place St Paul de Fenouillet is car ried out by the hotel to complement the hotel, museum and tourist office.”

Mr Power st ated that work on removing a number of t rees and shr ubber y along with other “minor upgrading” would be car ried out prior to any proposed agreement.

Cll r Tommy Brennan (Ind) told the September meeting of Ennis Town Council that he was “totally against the proposal”. He said that the maintenance of the area had never been neglected by the staff of Ennis Town Council and as such, should remain the responsibil it y of t he Council. Mr Power said there was “no question of job losses” arising from the proposed t ransfer.

Town manager Ger Dollard said t he Council have not worked out any proposed ter ms with t he hotel. He described the proposal as “purely a management and maintenance agreement ”.

Cll r Brian Meaney (GP) urged the Council executive to carefully consider t he proposal, saying cer t ain “public access rights and issues” could arise.

Cll r Brennan said he would li ke to see what is proposed from the Council and t he hotel before any decision is taken.

FÁILTE Ireland and the Office of Public Works (OPW) are to meet in the coming weeks to discuss the possibility of reopening the Gort family home of WB Yeats as a tourist attraction.

The tower at Thoor Ballylee, just outside of Gort, was purchased by Yeats as his family home in 1917. It was used as a summer home by Yeats during his frequent visits to Gort, where he spent much of his time at the residence of Lady Gregory at nearby Coole Park.

The old tower has been closed to the public for some time and has been damaged by flooding activity over the last number of years.

Local senator Lorraine Higgins (LAB) has begun a campaign to secure enough government funding to reopen the tower as a tourist attraction. Higgins hopes that the combination of a renovated Thoor Ballylee alongside Coole Park will be enough to win literary tourists away from Yeats’ childhood home in Sligo and down to the Burren region.

“We need to reclaim our strong association with one of the English language’s foremost and renowned poets by ensuring Thoor Ballylee is restored as a prime tourist attraction in the region,” she said.

“Thoor Ballylee is steeped in connections with Yeats and should be just as important a tourist landmark as his grave in Drumcliffe in County Sligo. More than 100,000 tourists visit the poet’s grave in Drumcliffe every year and there is no reason whatsoever why Thoor Ballylee cannot achieve similar status as a must- see tourist destination.

“Thoor Ballylee has been extensively damaged by flooding, particularly in 2009. The River Coole which runs beside the tower is prone to flooding and overflows onto the road, and this has added to the difficulties from a tourist attraction point of view.

“I think it’s essential that every effort is now made to assist Fáilte Ireland, who are in charge of Thoor Ballylee, to carry out the essential remedial works that are required to restore and re-open the tower in time for next year’s tourist season.”

CLARE County Council have rubbished suggestions made by heritage campaigner and Environmental Editor with the Irish Times Frank McDonald that the local authority have deliberately allowing the listed buildings at Blakes Corner in Ennistymon to fall into disrepair in a effort to make it more publicly acceptable to demolish the structures and make may for a roundabout at the traffic black-spot.

Mr McDonald, who will speak at the Courthouse Gallery in Ennistymon later this month, also said that he does not believe that a plan to rebuild Blakes and Linnanes at a site pushed back from the roadway will come to pass.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if this is a deliberate ploy [by Clare County Council]. It was done in Dublin in the late 1980 where the roads engineers were destroying whole streets to create space for motorways. They used to buy the building and let them go derelict – then they would claim that the buildings were dangerous and needed to be pulled down. It is a standard ploy that is employed,” he said.

“I don’t believe that that is going to happen [rebuilding Blakes and Linnanes]. I have seen enough of pledges being made about building being taken down and put back up again but that has never actually happened. They wouldn’t be the same building if that happened anyway.

“These buildings have been made protected structure because it was felt that these buildings were important in the context of Ennistymon’s heritage and now because Clare County Council wants to put in a roundabout on the road to Lahinch these building are to be torn down.”

Senior Engineer at Clare County Council, Tom Tiernan, yesterday said that Mr McDonald’s comments were not true. “He is wrong – it is as simple as that. I don’t know where he is drawing his conclusions from. We have carried out repair work on the building but our staff has been reduced and out budgets have been reduced,” he said.

“We are involved in a process at Blakes Corner and we will continue to be part of that process.”

Next Thursday, September 29, Mr McDonald will be in Ennistymon to speak about the effects that the construction boom have had on the landscape and environment of Ireland.

“I will be talking about the excesses that we indulged in. Like, for example, building motorways which are now losing money, like the M3 which was driven through the landscape of Tara, the M9 which terminates in a city which has less that 50,000 people and the Limerick Tunnel. All of these were build as Public Private Partnerships and all are losing money. So in addition to the hundreds of million that have been spent on building these roads, they are also costing us a fortune year on year as well because the traffic projections won’t be realised,” continued Frank.

“You can’t unbuild the Limerick Tunnel but there is a lesson that we need to learn from this. We need to learn to cut our cloth accord to the measure and we need to be mindful of the knock-on effects of building unnecessary motorways.”

THE Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been asked to communicate with the people of Shannon, amid concerns over the circulation of an unsavoury odour in the town.

Reports that a smell has been in circulation in Smithstown and Ballycasey in recent weeks have prompted widespread concern.

According to some reports, the smell is an unsavoury pungent odour, while other people are complaining of a sewage smell.

The matter has been referred to Clare County Council and the EPA and it is being investigated.

In response to a query from The Clare People , a council spokesperson commented, “Clare County Council received complaints in mid August regarding an odour in the general vicinity of Smithstown Industrial Estate, Shannon.”

“These complaints were investigated by Clare County Council and this investigation is ongoing. It is acknowledged that there is an odour present. The matter has also been referred to the EPA for investigation as there are three EPA licensed facilities located in Smithstown Industrial Estate.

“Clare County Council and the EPA are carrying out odour checks in the vicinity in an attempt to isolate a potential source for the odour,” added the response.

Local county councillor Patricia McCarthy (Independent) said that better communication from the EPA is required. She said that she filed a query on this with the EPA two weeks ago and while it was acknowledged, she has not heard anything since then.

She is fearful that the odour will be in existence for a lengthy period before it is tackled, similar to what happened two years ago when a smell circulated.

“I am aware that the council sent in a complaint in August. We are back at the merry-go-round we had two years ago. We deserve an explanation, sooner rather than later,” she said.

“It’s just not comfortable, whether it is the odour from the sewerage or Smithstown, it is a terribly uncomfortable feeling. It was going on and on before. Nobody is listening to us. They are not communicating. They are not keeping us informed,” said Cllr McCarthy.

Last week, it was confirmed that an investigation had been launched, which involves EPA inspectors carrying out odour checks in the vicinity, in an attempt to isolate a potential source of the smell.

In March of this year, the EPA put monitoring measures in place in the town and indicated at the time that it would continue for up to a year.

The EPA’s mobile laboratory which is located in the town actively analyses the quality of air in the town and surrounding areas.

THE Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (IRMO) say that they stand ready to treat any emergency cases that present from Clare during their four-hour work stoppage which is due to take place at the Mid Western Regional Hospital in Limerick tomorrow, September 21.

Speaking to The Clare People yesterday, the INMO’s Industrial Relations Officer, Mary Fogarty, said that the work stoppage was not aimed at the people of Clare but instead was taking place to highlight the underfunding of emergency health in the region.

Any emergency instances which require an ambulance, such as car accidents and heart attacks, will still be brought to the hospital where the INMO will have a skeleton staff in place to manage emergencies.

“There are still some talks taking place between the INMO and the HSE but at this point it is difficult to see a situation where the action planned for Wednesday will not take place,” said Ms Fogarty. “This will affect anyone from Clare who is brought to the hospital while the accident and emergency facilities in Ennis are closed during the night, and it will also affect any emergency situation in Clare, or anyone who needs to travel to the A&E in an ambulance.

“We will have a staff available to deal with emergency situations. This action is not targeted at the people of Clare, it is an effort to highlight for the people how these critical facilities have been under-funded.”

The planned four-hour work stoppage will take place at the Mid Western Regional Hospital in Limerick this Wednesday, September 21, from 1pm to 5pm. The INMO also confirmed yesterday that this is the first of a series of industrial actions planned by the nurses but they have declined to confirm or deny whether these actions will spread to the Mid Western Regional Hospital in Ennis in the coming weeks.

The organisation have blamed the moratorium on the recruitment of registered nurses, the closure of 100 beds in the acute hospital services in the Clare and Limerick region, as well as the “failure of the reconfiguration process” to transfer all day surgery to Ennis, Nenagh and St John’s Hospitals.

“Nurses working at the hospital have repeatedly raised their concerns in respect of the clinical safety issues with both HIQA and Senior HSE Management,” said Mrs Fogarty.

“Unfortunately, due to the inability of both bodies to address the deplorable clinical environment now visible daily at the hospital, nurses are driven to publicly highlight the extremely serious situation through industrial action.”

KILRUSH native Noel Kilkenny will be named as Clareman of the Year at a gala ceremony in New York next month. The Clare Association of New York will host its 123rd Annual Gala Ball on October 15 and, as part of these celebrations, Mr Kilkenny is to be awarded the prestigious title.

Kilkenny is currently posted as the Irish Consul General of Ireland to New York and has clearly made a big impression on his Clare brethren in the Big Apple.

“From the very start, Noel made his mark in the Irish and Irish-Ameri- can communities in New York. He stepped into his new position full force upon his arrival in New York just over a year ago,” said Cathy Hogan, president of the Clare Association in New York.

“In a very short time, he has endeared himself to the people of New York, and the Clare Association takes great pride in the fact that we can claim him as one of our own.

“We are grateful to Noel for his dedication and support of the Irish and Irish-American communities and are proud to add the name of yet another great Clareman to our honour roll this year.”

The Cappa native was educated at Kilrush CBS primary school and at boarding school in Waterford before going to college at UCD. He spent three years in the Irish Department of Justice before he began his career with the Department of Foreign Affairs in 1977.

As well as service as the Consulate General of Ireland in New York, he has also formerly served as the Irish ambassador to Estonia.

The Consulate General’s job in New York is to provide help to Irish citizens in Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, New Jersey, New York, North and South Carolina, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

Since the County Association of New York was founded in 1888, its officers, members and friends have joined together each October to celebrate their Clare heritage.

Anyone who wishes to attend the annual dinner dance or has relatives in New York who may wish to attend is asked to e-mail coclareassociation NYC@gmail.com.

Mr Kilkenny is married to Hanora O’Dea, who is also a proud west Clare woman. They visit west Clare on a regular basis and were the honoured quests at a civic reception in the Vandeleur Gardens last year.

TEN YEARS ago, Donal Ryan’s life changed forever.

His pattern of behaviour changed, prompting his friends to sit up and take note.

Donal has always been an avid sports fan and a man who was meticulous in everything he did. His friends suspected that something was wrong one afternoon when he turned up late at a hurling game.

It was not like Donal. Sadly, the medics agreed that all was not well and a brain tumour was discovered after tests were carried out.

Donal, who is from Cratloe, was living in Melbourne at the time, having moved there initially on a working holiday visa in 1998.

He had previously worked as a mechanical design engineer in Ennis, having studied at the University of Limerick. It was three years after he moved to Australia that the tumour appeared.

“There was a bubble of cancer growing under my brain. It came out of the blue,” said 40-year-old Donal.

“My first symptom was turning up late for a hurling match. It was against the Sydney team, who were the arch rivals. By the time I got there, the game was half over. I had overslept. I was totally spaced out. I knew I was tired. I had gone to the doctor on September 4 and the match was on the 11th,” he said.

“The day after the hurling match, I turned up late for work. Two nurses called and brought me to the doctor. He looked into my eyes. He could tell there was something putting pressure at the back of my brain. There was a mass in there, under my brain. It was inoperable,” he said.

“They had to find out what it was. They bolted a cage to my head. I had a head of thick curly hair. They cut it all off. They had to take out a sample. They took a sample for analysis. It was a rare form of cancer. A bubble of cancer was enclosed in a little sack. As it was growing, it was squashing my brain,” he recalled.

He said that his symptoms were very definite and said he never suffered any head pain.

“I never had a single headache. My two symptoms were I was getting forgetful and I had extreme tiredness,” he said.

Once the diagnosis came through, Donal then underwent treatment, in an effort to shrink the tumour. This all took place in Melbourne.

“They tried to shrink it with radio- therapy. After that phase of treatment, I was extremely tired,” he recalled.

He was given time off work to recover and during this time he returned home to Ireland. The recovery went well and he returned to Melbourne when he felt that his health had restored.

Sadly, however, the tumour returned, in 2003.

“I went back to Melbourne. I relapsed shortly after getting back. It wasn’t spotted as quickly,” he said.

“My girlfriend suspected I was relapsing. She saw something in my driving. We went to the hospital. The scan showed up that it was back,” he recalled.

He underwent treatment in the form of chemotherapy. While the treatment has banished the tumour, which has never come back since then, Donal has a brain injury in that his short-term memory is affected.

After his treatment in Australia was complete, Donal returned home to Cratloe in 2003. He joined Headway in Limerick, where he has engaged in rehabilitative training since then. He believes that this will help him to secure employment in the future.

He has made great progress since his return home and although he is disappointed that his memory has been affected, he remains positive about the future.

“I have been stable. The tumour is completely gone. My short- to medium-term memory was badly affected. I don’t know if that was from the tumour or the treatment. I feel fine now. I am fairly independent. I haven’t returned to driving. I have been certified that I am able to drive but I haven’t driven,” he said.

He avails of a good public transport service from his home in Cratloe to Limerick city on a daily basis to attend Headway.

“I’d love to go back working, to do something in the engineering line, but my memory isn’t good enough. It will probably be just part-time,” he added.

“Overall, when I look back at where I came from, I’m grateful to be alive,” he said.

The manager of Headway, Denis Mangan, works with Donal in his training. Donal is one of 51 clients of the centre. Those attending have an acquired brain injury and all hail from the mid-west – Clare, Limerick and North Tipperary.

“Donal is on a programme which is the specialist resource service. There are work schemes in that. All going well, Donal will go on work experi- ence placement,” he said.

“The courses here would be evidence of new learning. We offer Level 3, Level 4 and Level 5 FETAC certification. This prepares for placements and further courses. We also offer counselling and support around dealing with difficulties,” he said.

“There are very set programmes. Clients look at their own abilities and work skills, communication skills and interpersonal skills.

“There is a huge amount of peer support among clients. People make friends here and socialise and go on trips and social outings,” he said.

One of the events that clients such as Donal are anticipating is Headway’s ball, at the Dunraven Arms Hotel, Adare, on Friday, October 7.

The money raised will go towards a new premises which Headway plans to move to in the coming months. Tickets, at a cost of € 100, are available from Headway – phone 061 469305.

THE Bulgarian Ambassador to Ireland has praised students in Clare for their efforts to ensure that the lessons of the most “infamous period of European history” are not forgotten.

Mr Emil Yalnazov was speaking in Ennis last week at the opening of a new exhibition that shows how the bravery of Bulgarian citizens during World War II saved the lives of an estimated 50,000 Jewish people.

‘The Power of Civil Society: the fate of Jews in Bulgaria during the Holocaust’, is currently on display in the De Valera Public Library in Ennis.

Mr Yalnazov, presented the exhibition to Holocaust Education Trust Ireland (HETI) on behalf of the Republic of Bulgaria State Institute for Culture and Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

HETI has provided the exhibition for display in branches of Clare County Library, earlier in the year in Shannon and currently in Ennis.

The exhibition demonstrates how the collective voice of the people of Bulgaria prevented the deportation of its Jewish population to the concentration and death camps of the Third Reich.

Speaking in Ennis last week, Mr Yalnazov said it was his “distinct honour” to introduce an exhibition “dedicated to a remarkable episode of history”.

He said the goal of the exhibition is to record history and pay tribute to the many known and unknown Bulgarian citizens who protected Jewish people at great risk to their lives.

He explained that all sectors of Bulgarian civil society – the community, professional classes, politicians and the church – engaged in “remarkable acts of humanism and bravery”.

Addressing students of Coláiste Mhuire and members of the Clare Active Citizenship network, Mr Yalnazov explained that despite Bulgaria being an ally of the Nazis, almost 50,000 Jewish lives were saved through the actions of Bulgarian citizens.

“To act against this dominating force is what is remarkable about Bulgarian civil society at the time. It was courageous,” he added.

Accompanied by his wife Sylvia, Mr Yalnazov praised students in Clare for their interest in the exhibition, which he said conveys a “message of peace to a young generation”.

“We take peace and reconciliation for granted but we need to remember that this was not always a fact,” he added. The exhibition runs in Ennis until October 1.