Month: October 2011

FOLLOWING on the launch of a government initiative called the ‘The Gathering’ to bring over 300,000 tourists to Ireland in 2013, a West Clare councillor has launched his own plan boost tourist numbers into the county.

At Monday’s meeting of Clare County Council, Cllr Gabriel Keating said his plan “to fly UK tourists for free into Shannon Airport with Aer Lingus on a pilot basis during off peak periods” would represent “a massive off-season boost for Clare tourism”.

Cllr Keating’s plan is that March 19, 2012, to April 16, 2012, and again from September 17, 2012, to October 15, 2012, visitors from the UK would be able to avail of free flights on Aer Lingus routes into Shannon Airport.

“The introduction of this scheme,” Cllr Keating said “would provide a much needed off season boost for our hotels, B&Bs, car rental industry, restaurants, pubs and tourism provider’s right across the county.

“Given the success that the reduction in the VAT rate has had in our hospitality sectors and the genuine efforts by our tourism providers to provide value for money, this initia- tive would play a significant part in extending our present summer season well into October. And of course, it would also help to boost passenger numbers at Aer Lingus and Shannon Airport.

“The success of this scheme could be achieved by undertaking a major promotion in supermarkets in the UK i.e Tesco, Lidl, Aldi and Sainsbury’s etc. What I am proposing is that a similar scheme be introduced in their UK chains,” he added.

The one stipulation for UK visitors planning to avail of these free flights would be that they would have to spend a minimum of four nights in Ireland.

“What I am proposing is that we start thinking outside of the box when it comes to tourism promotion and in this regard Fáilte Ireland, Tourism Ireland and Shannon Development should support this proposal and introduce a pilot scheme in conjunction with Aer Lingus,” continued Cllr Keating.

“It is time for change in the way we sell our country abroad and in the manner in which we disperse our marketing funds so that we maximise the benefits for our local tourism sector and revive passenger traffic at Shannon Airport,” he added.

GARDAÍ say an investigation is ongoing into the armed robbery of the Bank of Ireland in Kilkee on Thursday afternoon and say that several people were involved in the incident.

Two men arrested in connection with the incident were released without charge on Saturday night. The two, aged 26 and 31 – who are from west Clare – were arrested in the Doonbeg area on Thursday night, just hours after the incident which took place shortly after 2pm.

During the incident, one man stood at the door of the bank carrying a sawn-off shotgun while another as- sailant threatened staff with a knife.

More than € 8, 500 in cash – including some £2,000 in sterling – was stolen by the gang. No shots were fired and nobody was injured. There was one customer in the bank at the time.

The two arrived at the bank on a high-powered motorbike and travelled along the side of the O’Curry Street premises before entering the building. They made their getaway on the same vehicle.

Members of the Regional Armed Support Unit – which is based in Galway – were called in to assist gardaí in the investigation and gardaí say every effort will be made to solve the crime.

Gardaí have recovered most of the cash stolen, along with a motorcyle and helmets but have not yet located the weapons.

“A file will be sent to the DPP in relation to this,” said a senior garda spokesman. “We believe that there were a number of people involved in planning and implementing this. Our investigations are continuing.

“We have made very substantial progress in it. We are appealing for members of the public who were in the area before, during and after this incident to contact us,” he added.

“We have video footage. One of the men was wearing a green jacket. There might have been a rugby world cup logo on it, and he had white gloves. “The other had a grey jacket and black woollen gloves,” he said.

Gardaí say that the incident is isolated in that it is “completely unrelated” from recent incidents in which burglaries have been carried out in east Clare and Ennis.

The head of the Clare Garda Division Chief Superintendent John Kerin praised gardaí involved in the investigation of this crime.

“I am very pleased with the very proactive and professional response by gardaí, who were assisted by the Divisional and Regional Units,” said Chief Supt Kerin.

NEW figures show that since 2009 Clare County Council has issued 201 statutory notices instructing the removal of temporary dwellings from unauthorised encampments around the county. The figures, contained in a new report on Traveller accommodation in Clare, come as communities express frustration with Traveller encampments in areas of Ennis and Barefield.

11 caravans were parked between Barefield village and a section of road leading onto the M18 on Thursday. A spokesman for local residents said there had been a build of rubbish in the area over the past week. “We’ve been absolutely pestered. We don’t deserve that. We’re trying to keep the village tidy. We heard from the council that they got something like 45 calls about this. It seems that there is one law for Travellers and one law for the rest of us.”

According to the spokesman, temporary dwellings can be removed from the side of the road under the local government sanitary services act; the planning and development act and the road traffic act.

Councillors also expressed concern over developments at Barefield at yesterday’s meeting of Clare County Council. Cllr James Breen (Ind) said action needed to be taken to prevent caravans parking at the side of the road.

The meeting also heard that resi- dents of Fioruisce on the Gort Road in Ennis are concerned after four caravans moved into the area over the past month. Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG) said children are at risk by dogs and speeding cars while an area of the housing estate was being used as a “toilet”. Cllr Brennan said it was time for the council to act and to get rid of the caravans.

According to a report prepared by Bernadette Kinsella, Director of Housing, Social and Cultural Services, 201 statutory notices instructing the removal of temporary dwellings from unauthorised encampments were issued in the past two years.

The report explains, “In most cases, the occupiers of the temporary dwellings were previously accommodated by this council or another housing authority and/or they have refused offers of accommodation. There are currently five unauthorised roadside encampments being addressed.”

In relation to the existing legislation, the report states, “In the course of implementing the legislative framework on unauthorised encampments the council has identified some weaknesses in the provisions which need to be addressed. These issues were recently highlighted to the Clare Oireachtas members and have also been referred by the council to the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government with a view to securing a review and revision of the roads and housing legislative provisions.”

THE Leaving Certificate Applied (LCA) programme is well co-ordinated at St Joseph’s Secondary School in Spanish Point. That’s according to the findings from a Department of Education inspection, the details of which were published last week.

The report pointed to several strengths of the programme. These include that teachers are encouraged and facilitated within the school to attend relevant continuing professional development sessions; that guidance provided in the context of programme choice is appropriate to the needs of the students and that additional educational needs of students are well supported within the programme.

“The co-ordinating structures are operating very effectively. The joint co-ordinators liaise closely with school management and the programme teaching team and they discharge their duties very effectively,” stated the inspectors.

“Students displayed very positive attitudes to their work and to learning, and this was borne out by the quality of the work they produced in their tasks and key assignments,” they added.

It stated that policy and practice in the school regarding communication with parents supports effective links with the homes of LCA students.

“Parents receive meaningful feedback regarding the progress of the students by means of the session results issued by the State Examinations Commission (SEC) in addition to which school reports are issued. Parent-teacher meetings are held annually and letters are issued if a student is at risk of not being awarded a credit due to non-attendance.

“The school newsletter provides in- formation on the progress of the programme and letters are sent to parents as the need arises to provide additional information,” stated the inspectors’ report.

According to the report, the written LCA plan is “coherent and forms a very good basis for further development”.

Two joint co-ordinators form the core programme team and meet regularly to plan, monitor and evaluate its implementation. The programme is evaluated annually in line with “good cyclical practice”, said the report. This evaluation is done by the co-or- dinators in conjunction with the team and students.

“There is evidence that the programme has benefited from evaluation and review, and it is reported by the school that morale among the students has improved, largely due to the inclusion of more suitable elective modules. These changes have been introduced in the past two years in response to the expressed interests of the students. This responsiveness to change by the LCA co-ordinators and team is a strength of the implementation of the programme in the school,” stated the report.

A NEW report has praised the standard of Mathematics in Cluain an Átha National, describing it as a particular strength. Findings of the Department of Education and Skills whole school evaluation report of the Inagh School were published last week. The report praised teachers, stating they “are highly dedicated to the welfare of the pupils and work very hard to achieve the best possible learning outcomes”.

The report states that the school has a number of strengths. It found that “very effective organisational strategies have been developed to cope with the challenges of multi-grade teaching”. The report continues, “Commendable standards are achieved in the curriculum areas evaluated, with particular strengths in mathematics. The Board of Management contributes in a praiseworthy fashion to the provision of a safe, well-resourced and pleasant learning environment for pupils.” According to the report, “Parents are very supportive of the school and indicate high levels of satisfaction with overall school performance”, while “pupils interact with each other and with adults in a confident and respectful manner and are adept at working independently”.

The evaluation focused on the quality of and learning in English, mathematics, Irish and history. The school has an enrolment of 29 students with two mainstream class teachers. The report states that enrolment has declined since the last evaluation was carried out but is expected to remain close to the current figure for the foreseeable future.

In a submission, the Board of Management says it “is delighted with the findings of the report”. They thank “the inspector for his encouragement and advice. We appreciate the respect which he showed to us during the evaluation process.”

The report “recommended that school self-evaluation practices be formalised to include the setting of specific and measurable targets”. The report continues, “It is recommended that the teachers continue to build capacity to integrate information and communication technologies (ICT) into teaching and learning”.

In their response, the Board says it is implementing the recommendations of the inspection with regard to school self- evaluation practices.”

The submission states, “ICT infrastructure has been upgraded and ICT facilities within the school continue to be developed. Staff training in integrating ICT into teaching and learning has commenced.”

THE quality of teaching Construction and Wood Technology at St John Bosco Community College in Kildysart has been described as “very good” by Department of Education inspectors.

According to an evaluation carried out, effective learning takes place, while the subject plan represents a very good start on which to base further planning.

The report recommended that “further development of active methodologies should be used to further improve students’ learning”.

“Well structured lessons were conducted at an appropriate pace. Lesson content was presented very competently. Demonstrations of practical skills were of a high standard.

“However, more opportunities should be created for students to participate more actively in their learning. Well structured group work in theory lessons should be used to encourage more collaboration between students who should then be enabled to share with the whole class,” stated the report.

“Learning was effective. Students were interested and fully engaged in classroom activities showing appropriate levels of knowledge and understanding of the subjects. Students approached the subjects with enthusiasm and inquisitiveness and on occasion made contributions that indicated a high level of engagement,” it added.

It recommended that closer supervision should be provided for students who are allowed to use more hazardous machines such as the band saw.

Planning for the lessons observed was described as “very effective” and included the use of a wide range of resources including digital resources and ICT equipment.

“Good use was being made of the overhead projector, notably in a CS theory lesson. While this was effective, it is suggested that the transparencies in use could be scanned for use with the data projector to increase their flexibility as a resource,” added the inspectors.

FRENCH TEACHING lessons at St Anne’s Community College in Killaloe have been described as “well structured” by the Department of Education.

Inspectors visited the school and monitored the teaching of the subject, after which they made various recommendations.

According to the inspectors, the lessons are “well structured and paced” and instructions to students are clear.

There are three French teachers at the school.

It stated that there is a good atmosphere in classes, along with a good classroom management, with students “purposeful” in their work.

“However, in a small number of instances, more time could profitably be spent on preparation for an exercise before the students begin to work on it on their own.

“The modelling of answers or the use of a cloze-type exercise as a preliminary activity would provide support for students and would lead to a more successful learning experience.

“This is of particular importance when dealing with mixed-ability classes.

“Some students may need extra assistance from the teacher while the more able students could be encouraged to work independently by checking their answers against the relevant verb tables in the text book.

“Monitoring students’ progress through checking whether students found an exercise easy or difficult would also help in gauging the effectiveness of an activity,” stated the inspectors’ report, which was published last week.

“Where students are found to be having difficulty with a particular concept or with a key element such as numbers in French, this could form the basis for a concerted effort by all the teachers to address the issue over a period of days or weeks,” added the report.

A number of significant strengths were found during the evaluation. It found that there is a strong com- mitment to the provision of modern foreign languages in the school and the majority of students study a foreign language. The report also noted positively a mentoring scheme that is in place to assist new teachers and the target language is well used by the teachers for classroom communication and for teaching lesson content.

The teaching of grammar is a particular strength at the school, while there is a good emphasis on oral assessment in the senior cycle, according to the report.

A NEW report has described the standard of teaching and learning at Cranny National School as being of a very high standard. The whole school evaluation by the Inspector for the Department of Education and Skills focused on the quality of teaching and learning in English, Irish, mathematics and drama.

Published last week, the report found that, “Throughout the school, very effective differentiation strategies are used. Accordingly, lessons are very well matched to pupils’ levels of ability.”

Apart from the high standard of teaching, the report states, “A positive atmosphere pervades the school.

“Pupils are very well behaved and they engage in all activities diligently and with enthusiasm.”

According to the report, “The classrooms are well-maintained and provide stimulating and supportive learning environments. An abundance of helpful materials relating to many aspects of the curriculum is displayed.”

The report also makes a number of recommendations. It states, “The Board of Management is advised to assume a more pro-active role in school self-evaluation and in overseeing the quality of teaching and learning in the school and the standards achieved by pupils.”

The Board was also advised to compile and distribute and annual report on the operation of the school “as a means of enhancing communication with the general parent body”.

The report also recommends greater emphasis on drama.

According to the report, “The Board of Management of the school was given an opportunity to com ment on the findings and recommendations of the report; the board chose to accept the report without response.”

Cranny National School currently caters for 26 pupils and has two mainstream class teachers.

At the time of the evaluation, there were no pupils enrolled in first class or in fourth class.

The report stated, “The principal provides dedicated leadership to the school.

“She is committed to instigating improvements in teaching and learning through the use of a range of appropriate approaches and initiatives in each class.”

It continued, “She ensures that the school is well-resourced and that organisational and curriculum plans are implemented consistently.”

The report states that pupils “approach their learning with diligence”.

LIKE a hare that escaped the greyhounds is how Judge Joseph Mangan has this week described his retirement.

In his first interview since his retirement, the 66-year-old told The Clare People that his “initial feeling is like the hare that has got to escape before the grounds come. I am relieved to get to the finish line before I got the sack.”

“I’ve been on the bench for 27 years. It’s a long time to spend at it. I think I have worked very hard. I have had enough. I’m of retirement age. I could have retired last year if I wanted to. The job isn’t getting any easier. The volume of work has increased enormously,” he said.

“I’d feel very cheated if I didn’t get to enjoy a few years of retirement,” he said.

He said that he gave informal notice of his intention to retire at the end of July but the President of the District Court asked him to reconsider and defer his final decision until September.

“I did so and I gave formal notice of retirement in the first or second week of September,” he said.

During his time as a District Court Judge, he has always aimed to remain objective and remain detached, something that was not always possible. “The judge’s mind is a clinical mind… By and large you don’t bring it home with you and the same ap- plies to prejudices. You don’t bring it on to the bench with you. When you are on the bench you are more concerned with implementing the law in a just way, if you can, than you are about implementing an agenda. It’s not the function of a judge to be a crusader,” he said.

“Maybe it’s selfish of me but I was always more concerned about whether I had done the job properly than I was about the sadness of the story.

“You just couldn’t survive in this game if you reacted to every sad story the same as some sentimental person who always brings a handkerchief to the cinema.

“There was one young man I knew who came before me for quite a serious charge. It was not going to be dealt with in the District Court so there was no reason for me to disqualify myself from the case. I had met him when he was a child. He was one of the most mannerly little kids I met.

“When he came before me I found that hard to take. Most people who came before me were for a speeding summons or a bald tyre. They are not hanging offences. There is no problem about that,” he said.

After travelling the country as a moveable judge for more than 17 years, he was appointed to District Number 12 – which covers Clare and parts of Galway – in 2001. He has seen plenty of changes over the years.

“My coming here [to Ennis] coin- cided with the take-off of the Celtic Tiger. Whatever changes I saw it is difficult to discern whether they were caused by the advent of the Celtic Tiger or whether they were specific to this district. Certainly public order cases increased in the district around that time. I think the answer is probably a combination of both [the introduction of the Public Order Act and the Celtic Tiger],” he said.

“I think there has been a very noticeable decline in public order cases in the last three to four years, pre- sumably because a lot of young people have left the country. In relation to drugs, the drugs squad locally are very alert to what’s going on. One thing that has to be a cause for great concern is that when people had a lot of money the tendency was to use softer and safer drugs. Now that money is scarce, we are seeing more of the harder drugs,” he said.

He has seen the family law courts becoming busier in recent years, but said, “Just because the volume of family law cases has increased in the courts, doesn’t mean there has been an exacerbation in family law problems. There were always family law problems but in the past there was greater tendency for people to suffer in silence.”

Over the years, he has had to disqualify himself from hearing cases, due to his acquaintance with defendants.

“That was very simple. In a parking court I would have no problem dealing with my grandmother because she would be one of 50 people who are all dealt with in a similar way. In a family court if you have the slightest acquaintance with a person you don’t touch the case.

“Other cases are in between. Sometimes I would disqualify myself. Sometimes I would deal with the case,” he said.

“What no judge appreciates is being ambushed in court, observing a defendant in court flanked by one or two mutual acquaintances lest that the judge might not know who the defendant was, the acquaintances often being pillars of the community,” he added.

“There are occasions when somebody will try to bully the court. Sometimes fire must be met with fire,” he said.

Throughout his career, several of his rulings have been overturned by a higher court. “It’s just another person’s opinion.

“That person is entitled to his or her opinion as I am entitled to mine. I have my day’s work to do. If there is an appeal, the case becomes somebody else’s problem,” he said.

“I never worried about giving decisions in criminal cases. If I had a doubt I would dismiss the case. The law states you must have a reasonable doubt. I have to confess I never quite knew the difference between a doubt and a reasonable doubt,” he said.

“I never worried unduly about wronging the State in a criminal matter because the price we pay for a half civilized legal system is that 1,000 guilty men must walk free to ensure that we don’t convict the innocent man.

“Even with the system we have, innocent people still get convicted,” he said.

“Wronging an individual is another matter and that troubles me as I’m sure it troubles all my colleagues. One would especially want to get it right in a family case. It’s not always easy,” he added.

AFTER SITTING on the bench at Ennis District Court for more than 10 years, Judge Joseph Mangan’s final day in court was filled with good wishes, with a bit of luck for the very last defendant who came before him.

The judge’s farewell speeches were timed for 2.30pm but ran a little late as the final cases were being heard. As the courtroom began to fill up with wellwishers – mainly members of the legal profession, the probation service, current and former colleagues and gardaí – after lunchtime, Judge Mangan quipped, “I see a lot of familiar faces in the court. I think I may have to disqualify myself from a lot of it.”

Moments later, he let the last defendant before him off the hook. It was a road traffic matter and the judge told the accused, “You are the equivalent of the one millionth purchaser of the Volkswagen Beetle. Go and sin no more.”

Earlier in the day, during one of the judge’s last cases to hear, a solicitor suggested a lenient penalty for his client, given the occasion.

During a hearing into a public order charge, solicitor Stephen Nicholas suggested that his client be given the chance to contribute to the court poor box “given the day that’s in it”. Judge Mangan replied, “I thought you were going to say given the day that’s in it, a contribution to myself.”

He agreed to the request and dismissed the charge under the Probation Act on condition that € 100 be paid to the poor box and this was done immediately.